I've Got Felines For You
by PurpleWonderPower
Summary: Minimus is on vacation, and Maximus feels lonely without him. Meanwhile, Zulia is feeling lonely too, and decides to ask Maximus to be with her again. On Earth, Penelope tries to break up Betty and Dylan.
1. Three Heads Are Better Than One

**Chapter 1**  
 **Three Heads Are Better Than One**

"Yes..."

Maximus I.Q.'s whiskers twitched with excitement as he brought his finger to the button. But this was not just any button. It was the button of ultimate destruction. One push of that button, and Maximus's Hyperspeed Ultra-Destructo Ray 2000 would activate, reducing the solar system of Allusia to nothing more than a singed piece of coal.

"Goodbye, Allusia!" purred Maximus, "Nobody will miss you! Mwahahahahahahahaha!" And with a firm blow, Maximus slammed his fist onto the button, activating the ray! Maximus cackled with triumph as his Hyperspeed Ultra-Destructo Ray 2000 warmed up, and...

Suddenly, the power of the ray flickered and went out. "Mwahahahahaha—what!?" Maximus stopped laughing instantly. "What the!?" he exclaimed, furiously, "What's going on!?" He pummelled the button, but no more than a spark emitted from his ray. Maximus looked around furiously, then caught sight of something out the window. He peered out and his face contorted in fury.

It was a starcruiser. A red starcruiser. A red starcruiser belonging to a Galactic Guardian. But not just any Guardian. The Galactic Guardian and Defender of the Cosmos, and nemesis of every supervillain in the universe, with Maximus being personal.

Maximus I.Q. stamped his foot and screamed in fury at the fact that he had completely missed Atomic Betty fly in with her tools, defuse his device and make off with the main power source while his back was turned. And he knew why, too. Usually, Maximus relied on Minimus to warn him when Atomic Betty was approaching. He was excellent at it, too, which was why Betty never managed to get the element of surprise on Maximus. But this week was different. Minimus was off on vacation for a week, surfing the terrific waves of the planet Ainrofilac Ubilam, and Maximus had no right-hand man to scream out when Betty approached. And that was why his plot had failed.

As many people will know, being sidekick to Maximus required preparation for a long, hard slog. Minimus had to wait on him hand and foot, and do just about anything for him when he couldn't be bothered. Not to mention those extremely high levels of verbal and physical abuse, as well as the fact Maximus only gave him one week off work every twelve years.

If one didn't know Maximus, they would think that very cruel indeed. But for those people who _did_ know Maximus, they would know that one week off every twelve years was positively kind. By his standards, that is.

Maximus sighed, deeply, and plotted a course into his ship for his headquarters in V Quadrant. There was no point in staying. Betty had his power source, so now his plot was busted.

Again.

Back at his citadel, he relaxed in his chambers and racked his brains for another plot. That Betty was such a pest! Why couldn't he just get on with his evil plans in peace!? Was it too much to ask that she just leave him alone while he plotted to destroy the universe!?

Maximus sighed, mostly because his plot was foiled, and also because he wished Minimus was back. He fingered his whiskers and remembered the conversation he and Minimus had had before he had left for Ainrofilac Ubilam.

"Maybe you say I'm your worthless sidekick, master," his evil face had grinned, "But wait and see! You're going to stagger behind in your schemes without me here to bail you out! Mwahahahaha!" before leaving for the hot sandy beaches of Ainrofilac Ubilam.

Maximus had laughed and laughed. He was certain that with Minimus out of the way for a week, his evil plans would all but flourish.

But Minimus had been totally right, and Maximus totally knew it. Three heads were better than one. Like today, for instance. Minimus was unintelligent, but he was sharp-eyed, unlike Maximus, who (not that he would ever admit it) frequently missed things right in front of his eyes. Hiding in plain sight, that was what they called it, and it worked on him like a miracle, which was why he wished his toady was back.

Maximus hated to admit it, but he was starting to miss the compliments Minimus gave him to avoid being smacked on the head or thrown across the room. He especially missed being able to hit Minimus on the head and watch it spin round for ages. To be honest, he was even starting to miss the sarcastic put-up and smart remarks from his other face. He had considered purchasing a time machine and preventing Minimus from getting any days off in the first place so he could have blown up Allusia successfully, but had thought the better of it. He had heard that time-travel could be very dangerous. If even the slightest detail about the past was changed, it could end up altering the future for worse.

Besides, where was he going to get a time machine at this time of year?

* * *

 **A/N**

 **This chapter was a bit short, I know, but it was meant to be more of a prologue than a first chapter. Now—fast forward to the next morning: Chapter 2 is where the story properly starts!**

 **I do NOT own _Atomic Betty_ or any characters.**


	2. Zulia's Secret Heartache

**Chapter 2**  
 **Zulia's Secret Heartache**

Zulia hummed pleasantly as she brushed her daughter Heidi's hair, getting her ready for school.

"There you go, hon," she said, tying Heidi's hair up in a high ponytail, "You're going to be the most beautiful girl in the class!"

Heidi smiled as Zulia kissed her on the cheek. "Bye, mom!" she called, putting on her school backpack, "Bye, Sparky!"

"Have a great day, honey!" called Zulia, as Heidi skipped out of the house towards the school bus. Zulia glanced over at Sparky, who was wolfing down a bowl of his favourite cereal: crispy slugworm flakes with chocolate frosting. Delicious. "See ya later, mom!" he announced, wiping the frosting off his mouth and striding towards the door, "I've got a _very_ important mission to go on!"

"OK, hon," Zulia said, fondly, "And do be careful."

"Mom!" exclaimed Sparky, "I'm not a kid anymore! I can take care of myself! I'm a hero, remember!"

Zulia chuckled. "Of course you are. See you tonight, hero boy." She pinched his cheek affectionately and watched him stride out of the house in a conceited way.

Zulia smiled, fondly. She sat down at the kitchen table and poured herself some slugworm flakes. They were a little on the stale side, but they would do.

She picked up the Neutropian newspaper and scanned the text for any news. There wasn't any. Zulia sighed and put down the paper. Hardly anything exciting ever happened to her these days, and Zulia often felt rather lonely at home by herself. When Zulia was a child, she used to have adventures all the time. She hadn't been a Galactic Guardian, like Sparky, but she had had a very exciting life nonetheless. Now she was an adult and had two kids to care for, and her duty revolved mainly around cooking. True, a few interesting things did happen to her once every now and again, but not as much as they used to.

Zulia laid back against the cushions of the chair and let her mind drift off to some of the exciting adventures she had had in the past. She remembered the time a few months ago when she had been kidnapped and taken to Glacies by a supervillain called The Scribe, intended to be murdered. But Sparky, with the help of his friends, had rescued her. She also remembered the notorious Masticula, whom she, along with Admiral DeGill, Spindly Tam Kanushu and Chef Bernadette, had sentenced to be frozen on Glacies forever so she could cause no more harm. But when Sparky had been cooking nearby, the heat from his grill had melted the ice, freeing Masticula, who vowed to have her revenge on the ones who had imprisoned her. She had kidnapped Zulia, DeGill, Bernadette and Spindly Tam, and condemned them to be frozen on Glacies, just as she had, but once again, Sparky and his friends had saved the day.

Zulia smiled. She was so proud to have a son who was such a hero. She didn't know what she would ever do without him.

Then, Zulia thought of another memory. A memory that had taken place before her adventures with Masticula and The Scribe. A memory she had not thought of for a long time. But this one was a different memory. It was a memory which, unlike the others, did not have a happy ending. It was a very painful memory, one that caused Zulia to feel great sadness when she remembered it. It had all started less than two years ago, when Zulia had joined a dating service in hopes that she could find a new partner...

...

Zulia gazed out the window of the spaceship, watching a huge colourful explosion take place, its remains rocketing out through the starry sky. "This is _amazing,_ Maxy!" exclaimed Zulia, in awe, "What a _view!_ However did you find such a place!?"

"I _am_ well-travelled," replied Maximus I.Q., who was sitting beside her in the seat of the spaceship. He snapped his fingers. Minimus pressed a button, and another planet exploded in an array of light and colours.

"Oh look! Another one!" exclaimed Zulia, gazing out the window in admiration. "To be honest, I had my doubts when I joined that intergalactic dating service," she admitted, "But _you_ have been absolutely _wonderful."_

"I, too, was hesitant," Maximus said, seductively, "But when my _worthless_ assistant found your _radiant_ beauty amidst the _common_ fodder, I couldn't help myself." He flashed her a flirtatious grin. "I was _smitten."_

"Oh, stop it," said Zulia, playfully.

"Um, boss?" said Minimus, who had spotted Atomic Betty's bright red starcruiser shooting towards them, "Betty at twelve o'clock!"

Maximus's eyes widened in panic!

"Betty?" repeated Zulia.

"Er...yes...ion storm Betty," invented Maximus, quickly, not wanting to arouse suspicion in her, "Isn't it cute how they give these galactic storms girlish names?"

Minimus slammed his foot onto the accelerator, and their ship shot away, racing round planets and diving between asteroids, with Betty's starcruiser in hot pursuit.

"I must apologise for this weather!" gasped Maximus, as he and Zulia were violently thrown around in the spaceship due to the breakneck speed, "We could be in for a bumpy ride!"

"You should talk to your driver!" Zulia exclaimed, as she was thrown around. She leapt onto Maximus's lap and clutched his robe in fright. "I think he's going a bit too—"

She broke off as they caught each other's eyes.

They both grinned sexily, then Maximus puckered up and aimed a kiss at Zulia's lips.

"Hang on!" exclaimed Minimus from the front.

He divebombed the spaceship down into a geyser of a nearby planet. Narrowly dodging the huge spurts of scalding water shooting out of other geysers, he steered the spaceship underground, Betty's starcruiser still hot on their heels. They dived across the pits of boiling water, swerving past the stalagmites, then swerved to a halt against a dead end. Betty's starcruiser cornered them. Then suddenly, the water around them bubbled, and a huge geyser shot up, catapulting them up into space!

"Phew!" said Minimus, shakily, as they zoomed away from the planet, "Looks like we made it!"

Maximus breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow!" exclaimed Zulia, breathlessly, "That was...that was _exciting!_ Where to next?"

"What would _you_ like to do, my little _doomsday button?"_ asked Maximus, in a syrupy voice. He tickled her chin, affectionately, making her giggle.

"Well, I _am_ kind of hungry," admitted Zulia.

"I know the _perfect_ place to have a picnic," declared Maximus, "You're going to _love_ it!"

He seemed to be a little frightened by her appetite when they sat down on the asteroid and she started devouring everything in the picnic basket.

"Heh heh," Maximus laughed, nervously, "You have quite the...appetite."

She noticed him glance away as she ate. It was all delicious.

"Look," exclaimed Maximus, pointing up at a moon in the sky. Zulia looked up at the moon and saw that it had been carved into a heart with her and Maximus's faces in it. Minimus was a good moon-carver. The likeness was uncanny.

Zulia giggled. "Oh, Maxy, that's so _sweet,"_ she said.

"Think nothing of it, my little _death ray,"_ Maximus cooed, "Tis a small, _insignificant_ gesture."

Suddenly, a series of faint high-pitched squeals sounded from where Minimus was carving another heart onto a moon with a lazer. The rocks spraying from the lazer's track were smashing onto the inhabitants, making them scream.

"Do you hear something?" asked Zulia, looking round to where the faint squeals were coming from.

"Ah, yes..." replied Maximus. He snapped his fingers. Five Blood Monks instantly beamed down from his ship and began to play romantic music, giving the atmosphere a cosy feeling. "Perhaps it is... _our song,"_ he crooned, seductively.

"Oh, Maxy..."

They looked at each other, lovingly.

Then Maximus picked up his wine glass. "To your _ravishing_ beauty," he said, raising his glass.

"To your _exquisite_ charm," cooed Zulia. They clinked glasses. Then they both puckered their lips and went in for a kiss.

...

Zulia's mind drifted back into reality. It was an old memory, one that should have been long-forgotten, yet Zulia still remembered it as clear as a crystal. The journey, the picnic, the kiss...although actually, they hadn't kissed. Minimus's lazer had accidentally sliced the asteroid clear in half just as their lips had been about to meet. Zulia wasn't sure if that had been for better or for worse.

Zulia had a bad habit of dating criminals. Originally she had dated Maximus I.Q., then later, a good long while after they broke up, she had gotten engaged with somebody called Max Sr., but it had gone badly. It turned out that Max Sr. was a two-timing crook who had only been using her to get his hands on some cash and jewellery. Talk about a real heartbreaker.

Maximus, on the other hand, really had loved her. Zulia just couldn't understand how somebody so charming could be so evil.

 _Holy caramel slugworms!_ Zulia thought, _Did I just think what I thought I thought?_

Zulia knew it was crazy, but a few weeks later she had started to miss him. He had seemed so nice, the way he talked to her, and the journey he took her on. That is, of course, until he had found out Sparky was her son, and had attempted to obliterate her. But even so, she had still begun to miss him. It seemed like so much time had passed since Sparky had become a Galactic Guardian, and Zulia often felt rather lonely at home with only her kitchen utensils as company. Sparky was always either off on a mission or hanging out with Betty and X-5, and Heidi spent most of her life hanging out at her best friend's house when she wasn't in school. Most of the time they just popped in for mealtimes and then scooted back off. Zulia knew that Sparky cared for her very much, but he was just never around. Oh, how she cherished those rare occasions when he would come and stay for a few hours, actually spending time with her, rather than hanging outside all the time. Zulia was glad her children were having fun, but the house always felt so empty when they were out. She often wished she had a partner to keep her company. Someone charming and handsome, who told exciting stories and knew how to captivate. Someone like...well...Maximus.

Zulia had heard what people said about love. How there weren't any rules in it, and how there was no telling when it might occur, or who it might occur with. But what if it was wrong, as in _very, very_ wrong, to like a certain person? Everyone said that love wasn't supposed to make sense, but what if it was crazy? What if it was impossible? What if the person you liked was the Supreme Evil Overlord of the Galaxy, and the arch-nemesis of the Galactic Guardians?

Zulia sighed. All this was so confusing.

She remembered how she had seen Maximus again when he had shrunk the No-L Nine down to ornament size at Christmas and the Guardians had banded together to stop him. It was a terrible crime, and everyone knew it, but to be honest, Zulia thought that shrinking planets to hang on a Christmas tree was just about the most terrific idea ever, had it not been so evil. She also remembered the evil speeches he made when he thought he had won. Evil, yes. Heavy-handed, yes. Dreadfully repetitive, yes. But the way he had said them sounded rather imposing, which, in a way, was rather romantic.

But it was impossible. Maximus obviously didn't love her anymore. He had pointed a death ray at her and she had hit him with her kitchen utensils in retaliation, which wasn't exactly the most romantic ending to a date.

Zulia sighed. She knew he was the galaxy's most notorious supervillain, but she just couldn't seem to erase her feelings for him. He had seemed so perfect. Ever since that fateful ending to that wonderful day, Zulia had never been able to think of him without getting fuzzy feelings inside. They really had liked each other, after all. Maybe there was just the faintest, slimmest, tiniest possibility that Maximus still cared about her.

Zulia got together her confidence. Maximus I.Q.'s citadel was located in V Quadrant. Everyone knew that. Maybe she could go there and tell him how she felt. Surely he would had cooled off after all this time? She shook her head with frustration. No. This was too crazy. He might try to obliterate her again. But she could bring her frying pan or rolling pin and threaten him with it if he did. Maybe it would be worth it. No, no, no, this was just too insane. Thinking that Maximus I.Q. still loved her was like finding a needle in a haystack on your first try. It had to be a billion to one at the very least.

But then again, Zulia realized, a billion to one was still a chance.

A chance that could be worth taking.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **By the way, this story is a Maximus x Zulia fanfiction. I've always been a huge fan of Maximus being with Zulia, and decided to write this story where they make up their "tragedy" from _Slime Of The Century._ And if you were wondering about Heidi, she is Sparky's sister, the one who was mentioned in the episode _The X-Rays._ Since she was kept anonymous in the show, I decided to call her Heidi.**

 **I wonder how Maximus and Zulia would have reacted in _Slime Of The Century_ if, while they were having that picnic or looking at the moon carvings together, someone came up to them and said "In only a few short minutes, _you're_ going to try to obliterate her with a death ray, and _you're_ going to hit him with your handbag in retaliation."**

 **They'd never believe it.**


	3. A Very Awkward Moment

**Chapter 3**  
 **A Very Awkward Moment**

"Oh _yes,_ master!" Maximus said, in a meek and somewhat nasally blocked voice, "Genius evil plots, super genius evil plots." Then he made a clicking sound with his tongue, imitating the click that was made when Minimus's head spun round. "Which failed!" he growled, nastily, in a rough and sarcastic voice, like Minimus's evil voice. Then he clicked his tongue again. "Oh, I mean, yes, your evilness," he said in the meek voice, "Ooh, you're definitely the most evil genius in the galaxy!"

"That's better!" Maximus said, this time speaking in his normal voice, "A Supreme Evil Overlord such as myself does not stand for such criticism!"

He was playing with his ceramic ducks. For a Supreme Evil Overlord, Maximus I.Q. had some rather unusual idiosyncrasies, the principal one being ducks. He loved ducks.

"Well maybe you need it!" he said in Minimus's evil voice, moving the duck in his left hand, which he had dressed in a tiny grey tunic with puffed out black sleeves, like the outfit Minimus always wore, "After all those times Atomic Betty helped you screw up!"

"Fool!" Maximus said in his normal voice, this time acting with the other duck, which was dressed in a minute version of his red robe, "NEVER say that to an evil genius! I am the Supreme Overlord! I do not make foolish mistakes!"

He gave the Minimus-representing duck a series of sharp smacks with the Maximus-representing duck, although not too hard so not to chip them.

It made him feel better in a way, to re-enact those humorous moments when Minimus would get his just desserts for making sarcastic remarks. But then again, it just wasn't quite the same as real life. Maximus's hand missed the feeling of a good thwack on Minimus's swivel-head. Then he had the amusement of watching it spin round for ages and seeing Minimus looking dizzy afterwards.

He gave the duck another shove with the other one, but it still wasn't the same.

Just then, Maximus heard his doorbell ring.

"MINIMUS!" bellowed Maximus, "Go and get that, you lazy slugworm!" Then he remembered. Putting down his ceramic ducks, he stood up and stomped down from his quarters, scolding himself for even letting Minimus go on a vacation in the first place. He grabbed a model three death ray from his technology depository on the way. Couldn't be too careful with visitors.

Who would even ring his doorbell, anyway? The only people who ever visited him were the galactic postal service, and once in a while his father Max Sr. But post came in the evening, and it was the middle of the afternoon. And when Max Sr. visited, he never bothered to ring the doorbell, he would just crash his spaceship through the wall of the citadel. Talk about Maximus's exhaustingly long damages list. Besides, Max Sr. was in jail, so it couldn't be him. _Thank goodness,_ thought Maximus, with a grimace, as he strode down the hallway. So who could it be?

He reached the double doors of his citadel and opened them. Then he gasped! Standing on his doormat with a nervous look on her face was a person Maximus never thought he would see again.

She was about half his height, with green skin and fluffy white hair, and she was tapping her foot nervously on the floor. Her ears were long and pointy (kind of like his) and her nose was large and green. She was wearing white gloves and a purple dress with a little white here and there.

And swinging from her hand was...no...it couldn't be...

Not Zulia's dreaded handbag!

Maximus took a step back. He could almost still feel the bruises he had got when she had whacked him with it before. It brought shivers to his whiskers when he so much as thought about it. What was she doing at his citadel!? He raised the death ray and pointed it at her with shaking hands, but didn't fire. "W-what do you want?" he demanded.

Having just been threatened with a death ray by the person she had had secret feelings for, Zulia scowled and put her hands on her hips. "Fine!" she huffed, turning away from Maximus and stomping back down the platform from his front door, "You can just forget about that date I had in mind!"

That hit him like a blow to the stomach. "DATE!?" Maximus exclaimed, "WHAT!?"

Zulia turned round. "I came here to ask you if you would go on a date with me," she confessed, "But forget it." She turned away from him and walked down the platform, leaving Maximus standing there with his mouth open in shock.

"Wait, _what_ did you just say?" he demanded, running after her.

Zulia sighed. Without turning round, she repeated her sentence a third time.

Maximus blinked. "Are you honestly saying you want to go on a _date_ with me?"

"Yes," Zulia said, turning around but avoiding eye contact with him, "If you must know, I kind of missed you."

Maximus stood there frozen for a second, not quite sure what to say. Then he remembered who he was. Supreme Evil Overlord.

He forced his face into an evil smirk, but it was difficult.

"A date? With you?"

He gave a laugh that sounded horribly forced.

"You must be out of your mind! Why would I waste my time participating in such triviality!?"

Zulia sighed sadly.

"I am the Supreme Evil Overlord! I have worlds to crush, galaxies to enslave, an entire universe to plunge under my control!" declared Maximus, in a decidedly cruel tone, "I do not waste my time in petty love affairs! And as for you, I have never missed you in the slightest!" His stomach churned as he said that. Even for Maximus, that was astonishingly cruel.

Zulia crossed her arms. "Fine!" she said, in her matter-of-fact tone, refusing to meet his eyes, "Have it your way. When I said I missed you and wanted to go on a date, what I really meant was: I don't miss you at all, and I never want to see _you_ again, either!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

Zulia stuck her chin up and marched back down the landing pad without looking back. _Well that went well,_ she thought, dully. Of course, this was exactly what she had expected. It wasn't as if she had thought he was going to say yes.

Maximus threw out his chest and marched back down to the entrance in a very Supreme-Evil-Overlord-like way. _Women!_ he thought, crossly, as he strode back inside.

But as he glanced back, he couldn't help noticing the hurt look on Zulia's face. He felt a pang of guilt.

He had done the right thing...hadn't he?

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Ooh, cliffhanger! Will Maximus regret his rejection, or will he continue being cold and heartless and his gift with ladies never be put to use?**


	4. A Day At Moose Jaw Heights

**Chapter 4**  
 **A Day At Moose Jaw Heights**

The class walked out of the maths room, each clutching their test. The class had just taken their mid-semester math exam, and several of the students were annoyed with their results. Noah, of course, had come top. Duncan, of course, had come last. Penelope hadn't done particularly well, but she didn't care because her only purposes in life were fashion, money, and being superior to Betty. Where were math grades going to get her in life?

Betty had gotten a B+, which she was rather proud of. She put her test in her bag and unlocked her locker.

"Hey, Betty," said Noah, walking over, "How'd you do?"

"B plus," replied Betty, "Thirty-nine points out of fifty."

"Wow," said Noah, "That's great."

"I'm guessing you got an A plus, naturally," said Betty, smiling.

"That's what happens when you study," said Noah, proudly, holding up his test, on which was written FULL MARKS.

"Well, I'm heading to hockey practice," Betty told him, "It's the championships tomorrow, and I need to train up tonight." She stuffed her school bag into her locker, picked up her hockey gear and locked the padlock tight.

"OK," replied Noah, "Good luck."

"Thanks!"

She skipped off down the corridor with her kit, and suddenly— "Whoo—oh—aah!" exclaimed Betty, as she tripped and fell to the floor, her hockey kit splaying across the floor.

"Oh!" exclaimed Penelope Lang, whose leg was stuck out in front of Betty, " _Betty!_ I am so _very_ sorry! You know, I didn't even see you coming!" She laughed that irritating high-pitched giggle of hers.

Betty scowled. "I don't have time to put up with you, Penelope. I'm off to play hockey."

"Hockey?" exclaimed Penelope, "Really? I hope you watch out! You might _trip!"_ she laughed, nastily.

"You know what your problem is, Penelope?" said Betty, tired of Penelope's endless taunting, "You're all flash and no—" She suddenly broke off as she spotted somebody coming round the corner. Betty's face drifted to a lovestruck expression. It was Dylan, one of the most popular boys in the school, who was also Betty's crush.

Penelope stared at him in horror. Quickly, she slinked past Betty and fluttered her eyelashes at Dylan. " _Hi,_ Dylan," she said, in a sexy voice.

Dylan rolled his eyes and walked right past her. Penelope's face contorted in fury.

"Hey, Betty," Dylan said, smiling, "I heard about the hockey championships tomorrow evening. I can't wait to see you play. I hear you're the star of the team."

Betty blushed. "Thanks, Dylan," she said, shyly, "But I'm not really the star. Everyone else has a part to play, and they do it brilliantly too. It's a team thing."

"Well I can't wait to see it," said Dylan.

"Thanks," replied Betty, "I hate to cut short, but I'm late for hockey practice. Big game tomorrow, gotta make sure I'm ready. Sorry."

"Sure, go ahead."

Betty smiled, the picked up her hockey gear and ran down the corridor towards the hockey rink. "Bye, Noah!" she called, "Bye, Dylan!"

 _Bye, Penelope,_ she thought, murderously.

Penelope Lang clenched her fists in fury. She hated Betty with great passion. She hated everything about her, her hobbies, her interests, her geeky love of aliens and space, her hockey skills, her skateboarding, her appalling fashion sense, and especially her flaming red hair. It was _so_ unfashionable. Betty had absolutely _no_ idea what true style was all about. Sometimes Penelope would lie awake at night and dream about setting Betty's hair on fire or sneaking hair remover into her shampoo bottle. But that would never happen. It was just a beautiful dream that was too good to come true. And above all, Betty had stolen Penelope's boyfriend. Well, actually, Dylan had never been Penelope's boyfriend. In fact, he loathed her to the skin, but Penelope was convinced that Dylan should be with her, and not dopey Betty. After all, she had way more money and much more style, and wasn't a space-geek like Betty, so Penelope was _obviously_ more worthy of Dylan.

 _And tomorrow,_ she seethed, _Dylan's going to see Betty show off in front of the whole school! I can't let that happen!_

...

"All my muscles have seized up!" moaned Betty three hours later, as she staggered out of hockey practice with the rest of the team, all of whom were groaning with pain.

"Well, we'd better go home and get some rest," replied Paloma, who was the only one who didn't look worn out from practice. But she was a Sharbenian, and Sharbenians had a much greater strength than Earthlings. "We don't want to be exhausted at the game tomorrow."

"You're right," said Betty, heavily, and the two best friends made their way to the school exit, clutching their hockey gear. It was spring, so the sky was still light. They walked down the path leading away from school.

"I'm really worried about tomorrow," admitted Betty, "This is going to be the most important game of the year. And the whole school is going to be watching. To be honest, I'd rather face Maximus's elite forces than mess up on such an important occasion."

"I know how excited you are about this, Betty," said Paloma, kindly, "But don't put too much pressure on yourself. I want to win the championships too, but don't make it the end of the world if we don't. Remember, it's not winning, it's taking part that counts."

Betty sighed. "You're right," she said, heavily, "You're right. I should stop worrying. It doesn't do me any good." Then she smiled. "Thanks, Paloma. You've always been so easy to talk to."

"Any time, Betty," replied Paloma.

They reached the point where the roads went different ways, and the two girls parted.

"Goodnight, Paloma," called Betty, walking down the road to her house.

Paloma smiled, and for a moment, her eyes gleamed a ghostly orange. "Goodnight, Atomic Betty."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Just to clarify, only Season 1 and Season 2 existed in this story. I loathe _Mission: Earth,_ how Headquarters was built on Earth and especially how Chaz and Regeena replaced Dylan and Paloma. So in this story, Noah never got teleported into Maximus's citadel at the end of _Takes One To Know One,_ and so Paloma and Juanita came back home to Earth. Everything went back to normal, and now Betty and Paloma share their secret together, Noah is still oblivious, and Dylan is still Betty's crush. _Mission: Earth_ never existed, and neither did Chaz and Regeena.**


	5. The Cat Calls Back

**Chapter 5**  
 **The Cat Calls Back**

Maximus was feeling a little guilty. Even a Supreme Evil Overlord had feelings sometimes, and he couldn't hide the fact that he had felt good when he had dated Zulia. But that was in the past, he convinced himself. He was over Zulia now. Even so, he struggled to get her out of his head. The hurt look on her face when he had turned her down had almost got to him.

Almost.

The Supreme Evil Overlord sighed and put his head in his hands. He let his thoughts waver back to the time when he and Zulia had been together. He had felt so happy with her. Maybe he had made a mistake turning her down.

No! Maximus crossed his arms and shook that stupid thought out of his head. He was a supervillain! He loved riches, he loved power and he loved destruction. And ducks. He did not, and never would, love women.

Or would he?

Before he could get into deep thought, he heard his doorbell ring again. Maximus groaned and yanked himself back downstairs. He flung open the door. "What?"

"Mail for Maximus I.Q." reported the member of the galactic postal service, who was standing outside Maximus's front door. He held out a bunch of letters.

Maximus scowled, then snatched them out of the postman's hand and slammed the door.

"People these days just have _no_ manners!" complained the postman, before trudging back down Maximus's landing pad.

Maximus strode back into his personal chambers and went through the letters. There were three—there was a letter from his old director, Antoine Lucci, whom Maximus was still in contract to, (he screwed it up and tossed it into his wastepaper basket) an official-looking brown envelope that looked like a bill, and a postcard from the surf-and-sand planet of Ainrofilac Ubilam. He discarded the bill as well, (a Supreme Evil Overlord didn't pay bills) then picked up the postcard and rolled his eyes. On the front was a photo of his two-faced minion surfing on a sun-stroked beach with terrific waves, wearing a holiday outfit, complete with flower garlands and shell bracelets. Maximus turned over the postcard and read Minimus's letter. His handwriting was terribly messy, and don't even get me started on the appalling spelling, but Maximus could still read it fine.

 _Deer Master,_ it said, _I hope youve distroyed Atomic Betty, but no worry if you havent, Im sure you'll think of another ingenius evil skeme. Ainrofalak Ubalam is fantastic, thereve been loades of beech partys and the waves are amazing. It's purfect for surfing and theres been briliant wether, too, youd be amazed how sunny it is, and the sand is awsome too, plus they have Ubalam surfing shirts which look grate on me as you can see on the front. Wish you were here, although I know you dont like water so maybe you wouldnt want to, but I am looking forward to coming back (sort of)._

 _Sincerly, Minimus,_ was scrawled at the bottom.

Maximus shook his head pitifully and tossed the postcard over his shoulder into the wastepaper basket. The last thing he needed to know was that Minimus was having a great time.

Then he paused.

He glanced back, then stood up and fished the postcard out of the wastepaper basket. Maximus stared at it in his hand for a while. It was kind of good to hear from Minimus, but in a way, it had only made Maximus feel even more lonely. This week had gone past unimaginably slowly, and he still had two whole days until Minimus returned.

Maximus sighed, with a mixed bag of guilt, confusion and loneliness. He placed the postcard down on his table and thought about Zulia. He still felt like he had done the wrong thing. With Minimus away, Maximus had no real company. Maybe a date with Zulia would be fun.

Maximus would never admit this, but a long time ago, all the way back to the time when he had left Zulia, a few days later he had begun to feel rather lonely without her. A few times, he had even been on the verge of calling her back. He really had liked her, to be fair. Perhaps there was a chance that he still had feelings for Zulia after all.

His stomach churned with horrible guilt as he remembered how cruelly he had spoken to her a few hours ago. Even for Maximus, that had been incredibly heartless.

Then Maximus made a decision. _I'm going to hate myself for this,_ he thought, crossly, as he picked up the phone and dialled a number.

...

"'...Their bodies mingled and became one as they danced in the starlight with only the moons as their company.'" Zulia dictated to herself as she wrote, "Perfect!"

Zulia was writing a story called _Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers,_ which was the sequel to her bestselling romance novel _One Thousand And One Romantic Nitros_ by her pen name, Lola Polaris. She had been working on it for nearly two years, and she only had three more chapters to go. Zulia pursed her lips as she finished the sentence.

"I hope people will like this as much as my first," she mused, sucking the end of her pen as she searched her brain for more ideas. She yawned. It was getting near ten o'clock, and her hand ached from writing. She was feeling tired, too. Maybe she could finish that chapter tomorrow. Plus, she still needed to think of somebody to dedicate it to. She had dedicated _One Thousand And One Romantic Nitros_ to Sparky and Heidi, and now she needed to think of someone to dedicate the sequel to. A good friend, or somebody she cared about a lot. Atomic Betty? Nah...Betty was Sparky's friend, not so much Zulia's. Admiral DeGill? No...DeGill was just an old colleague who she got on well with, not really a proper friend. She decided to drop it. She was sure to think of the right person at some point. She placed her pen next to her notebook and closed it, marking the page she had got to with a bookmark, and headed upstairs. She peeped in at Heidi, who was sitting snuggled under her covers reading a young children's book.

"It's high time you got to bed, young lady," Zulia told her, in a stern, yet not unkind voice, "It's nearly ten o'clock, and you've got another day of school tomorrow."

"OK, mom," Heidi said, happily, and with that, she placed her book on her bedside table, switched off her bedside light and closed her eyes, ready to go to sleep. Zulia sat down on Heidi's bed and began to sing that well-known Neutropian lullaby.

 _"Twinkle, twinkle neutrino_  
 _How I wonder why you glow_  
 _Passing through the void of space_  
 _Quarks and leptons giving chase_  
 _Twinkle, twinkle neutrino_  
 _How I wonder why...you...glow..."_

Heidi was sound asleep by the second line of Zulia's song. Zulia smiled, fondly, and headed into Sparky's bedroom. He was sitting at his desk in his pyjamas, doodling cartoon strips of Galactic Guardians and deadly space monsters.

"Time to turn the light off, sweetie," Zulia called, "It's very late."

"Aw, but mom," whined Sparky, "Can't I stay up a little longer?"

Zulia shook her head, firmly. "You're a growing Neutropian and a responsible Galactic Guardian, Sparky," she said, "You need your sleep."

"Aw, alright," said Sparky, getting up from his desk chair and getting into bed, "See you tomorrow, mom."

"Sleep well, hon," Zulia said, and kissed him on his green cheek, before heading out of his bedroom and towards her own. Then just as she was about to grab the doorknob, her home phone rang downstairs in her work room. Quickly, she sprinted downstairs and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" queried Zulia, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hello, Zulia," a tense and somewhat forced male voice sounded from the other end of the line, "This is..." Maximus clenched his teeth together as he spoke, "...Maximus."

Zulia gasped and stood bolt upright! "Why are you calling me?" she demanded, with a mixed bag of anxiety, confusion and mild excitement.

Maximus clenched his fists and resisted the urge to just hang up.

 _You can do this,_ he told himself, firmly, _You can do this. Just don't bring it on too strong._ He took a deep breath and spoke. "I want to go on a date with you," he said between gritted teeth.

Zulia's jaw dropped as far as it could go. Of course, Maximus didn't notice because he was at the other end of the line.

"Are you serious?" she questioned, excitedly.

Maximus was breathing very fast and very faint, his whiskers quivering with anxiety. His stomach lurched as he spoke.

"Yes," Maximus said, "And I'm—" he clenched his teeth, hating himself for talking like this, "—sorry. For—for everything I did and said. I'm sorry for being so heartless, and for saying I didn't care, and for...you know...trying to obliterate you with that death ray. That...wasn't very nice." His cheeks burned with guilt as he said this.

Zulia began to feel both nervous and rather excited. Maybe Maximus did still like her after all. Maybe they could make amends. Maybe...

"So..." Maximus gulped, nervously. Sweat was running down his brow. He wiped it off. "How do you feel about going for a little trip round Colorosia tomorrow?"

Zulia gasped so loud that Maximus had to hold the receiver away from his ear. "Colorosia!?" she gasped, "Not the most dazzling galaxy in all the universe!?"

"Yes," Maximus answered, "That's it." His whiskers twitched with anxiety. He hoped she would say yes, yet a small part of him hoped she would say no, too. He was feeling horribly nervous, after all.

"I've never seen Colorosia before!" exclaimed Zulia, "It's supposed to be just breathtaking!"

"Is that a yes?" asked Maximus, tensely.

"Yes!" Zulia exclaimed, immediately. Then she frowned. "But first you have to promise not to do anything...well...evil."

"I promise," the feline answered.

"Then yes!"

A smile crawled onto Maximus's face. "If you like, I can pick you up," he said, nervously, "I still know the way to Neutropia."

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Zulia, clutching the phone tightly.

"The same to you."

They both put down the receiver and a huge weight fell from Maximus's shoulders.

 _Phew!_ he thought, wiping the sweat from his forehead, _That didn't go too badly._

He felt both glad and also incredibly nervous at the same time. After all, he was a Supreme Evil Overlord, and Zulia was Sparky's mother. Not the most simple of matchmaking. What if things turned out badly again? In any case, he certainly didn't want to see a repeat of their "break-up". Maximus shuddered as he remembered being hit on the head by Zulia's handbag and rolling pin. There was no doubt about it, Zulia was a tough chick. He shook his head and pushed that thought out of his mind. He had felt so right with Zulia before. Maybe it would work out after all.

Meanwhile, on Neutropia, six hundred million light years away from him, Zulia gazed at the phone, feeling all tingly inside. Colorosia...one of the seven hundred and seventy seven wonders of the universe. From what she had heard, it was said to be something that one would never forget. And not just that. A smile twitched at Zulia's lips as she took in what had just happened. The way he had talked just then...he had seemed more like the Maximus who had liked her. The Maximus who had said she was beautiful. The Maximus who had taken her on that incredible journey. The Maximus she had almost met lips with.

Lola Polaris was no longer just a writer of romance stories. Now she was in one.

She glanced over at the unfinished _Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers_ sitting on her desk. She pursed her lips and walked back over. Opening the book, she turned right back to the front page, then picked up her pen and wrote in a spirally signature:

 _For Maximus I.Q., who I hope will love me again._

She closed the book tight and went to bed.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I wonder how this'll turn out! Keep reading, all of you Maximus x Zulia fans out there!**


	6. Colorosia

**Chapter 6**  
 **Colorosia**

Maximus nervously straightened the neck of his red-and-gold robe, feeling both excited and monumentally terrified at the same time. In his opinion, time had passed a little too quickly. What was going to happen? What should he say? What should he do? What if something went wrong? His mind spun.

Maximus tried to calm himself. _Stay cool,_ he told himself repeatedly, _It's just like that time when you used deadly sound waves to torture Coloosians. You just have to take it slowly._

...

Zulia tied up the straps of her black patent shoes, then reached into her jewellery box for her favourite earrings. They were simple, yet elegant, with a creamy purple colour—lilac, like Neutropian orchids—that went perfectly with her outfit. She peered into her dressing mirror and carefully clipped the earrings into her pointy ears. She had washed her hair with perfumed shampoo and made it look extra fluffy. Zulia thought she looked rather pretty, if she might say so herself. As a finishing touch, she picked up a bottle of Neutropian perfume and sprayed it around her neck.

The tingling feeling in her four stomachs had refused to cease. Ever since last night, that same feeling had remained.

She glanced at her watch. Sparky had left for an important mission a few hours ago, and now Zulia had exactly twenty-five minutes before Maximus came to get her. A prickle crawled up her spine. Was it excitement? Or fear? Or both? She didn't know. She would just have to wait and see.

...

Bright coloured lights flashed from every angle, shooting stars revealed elegantly in the twilight sky, clusters of rainbow-coloured comets grazed across the pool of everlasting colour. The starry sky was illuminated as a lone star with an unpredictable flight path cartwheeled across the miraculous view, giving off a spiralling, glitter trail and the glow from the shimmering moons mingling into every colour imaginable. Beautiful and bright, the vibrant beams were like a multicoloured spider spreading its fluorescent webs across the moonlit sky. The stars around reflected the vivid colours; pink and red, red and pink, blue and green, green and blue, orange and yellow, yellow and orange as the luminous beams of multicoloured light circulated all around them, swirling, spinning, spiralling, whirling, whisking, floating, flittering through the ocean of glow. Streams of flaming comets swirled round the beams of colour, some shooting straight up before exploding, others whirling in a spiral, some shattering into thousands of sparks, others tumbling like a scarlet waterfall or floating in a glittering silver shower. Swooshes and shoots of turquoise and emerald green mingled with the bright spurts of pale violet, deep scarlet and sunset yellow, creating a twisting kaleidoscope of radiant blur, as if there were a whole other world within the sea of glowing colours.

"Oh, Maxy, I've never seen anything like it before!" breathed Zulia, clinging onto the sleeve of Maximus's red robe and gazing wonderstruck at the incredible view, "What a _sight!"_

Maximus looked down at her and couldn't stop himself giving her a little hint of a smile. He had to admit it himself, Colorosia was quite a sight.

"Just _look_ at _all_ those colours!" exclaimed Zulia in admiration. She gazed out as the mingling lights from the glowing rainbow-coloured moons collided with the glitter from comets, sending thousands of multi-coloured spirals flying over their heads.

"Sit back," smirked Maximus, in his usual sly tone. "And enjoy the show."

He pressed Zulia against the back of the seat, then reached inside his robe and felt around for something among the several hundred things Maximus kept in his inside pockets. Finally, after going through four death rays, three yarn balls, an assortment of cards he used to cheat in gambling, a few explosive devices, an unopened bottle of Fizzy Maxx, two keyrings from his old theme park Max-Land and a stray ceramic duck, he found what he was looking for: the remote from his old satellite controller. It allowed him to control any flying object. Hiding the remote behind his back so Zulia wouldn't see it, he played with a few buttons. A dozen loose comets in the sky suddenly burst into flame! He pressed another button, and the flaming comets shot towards the glowing pink moon Araminta. As the comets collided with Araminta's surface, it exploded, sending debris in all directions, and hurling out a wave of glowing pink light and sparkles exploded from its centre, lighting up the scene around them with all the colours of the rainbow!

"Oh my goodness, look at that!" cried Zulia in awe! She scrambled up onto Maximus's shoulder to get a better look and stared wonderstruck at the incredible explosion. Maximus chuckled and tucked the remote back into his pocket. To be honest, he was rather enjoying himself. He loved having somebody to impress, and secretly, Zulia had always been his favourite.

Zulia gazed up as the bright colours spread across the sky. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so happy. Especially considering she was with a Supreme Evil Overlord.

She slid back into the seat and clutched Maximus's arm tightly.

Maximus looked at her and couldn't shake off the warm and fuzzy feeling that was creeping up on him. _Is this right?_ Maximus thought, gazing up at the rainbow lights and magenta sparkles shooting from Araminta's remains, _Or am I making a mistake? Because if I'm making a mistake..._ He glanced at Zulia as she peered out, _...Then why do I feel so right with her?_

Zulia watched the bright beams mingle together, lighting up the sky with all the colours she could imagine. She smiled. "You know, to be honest, I was feeling so nervous today," Zulia admitted. She looked up at him and smiled. "But I don't feel nervous anymore. This is _incredible."_ She inched a little closer to him. "You really know how to make a date."

That seductive expression from years ago slid onto Maximus's face. "I, too, felt apprehensive," he said, using a fancy word for "worried". He liked to add a little style into his vocabulary. "But by seeing your radiant beauty again, I now realize that was needless."

"Oh, Maxy..."

Maximus smiled. It wasn't his usual devilish smirk, but one that was genuine, one that had never been witnessed out in the open before, not even by Minimus.

Slowly, they both came closer, then closed their eyes and went in for a kiss.

Then their eyes snapped open!

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know. What are _you_ doing?"

"I don't know."

They both sat up rather hurriedly. There was a moment of silence.

"Did you ever think this would happen?" asked Zulia, shyly.

"I must confess, I did not," said Maximus, "But I'm glad we're here."

Zulia thought he was very handsome with his lean build and pale complexion. His cheeks were shallow and brought out distinctive cheekbones, as well as his glinting white teeth. She wondered if he used teeth whitener. And his robe gave an impressive bearing. She liked that. She liked everything about him.

"What made you change your mind?" Zulia asked.

Maximus's complexion deepened into a blush as she said that. A supervillain didn't really share his feelings. But nonetheless... "I was feeling rather lonely," he said, "I felt like I would appreciate some company. And..." (he knew he would kill himself later for saying this) "...I do like you, Zulia."

She thought he had beautiful eyes.

It took them a while to tell each other how they felt, but it kind of felt good to finally get it out. She told him how she had missed him a lot after they had broken up, and that she often desired company. He told her how lonely he had been without her, how much he had regretted his actions, and how guilty he had felt when he had turned her down yesterday.

"I _never,"_ he said, "Want to do that again."

He reached over and held her minute hand in his larger one. Zulia's fingers tingled.

She edged a little closer to him so their arms touched. She could smell his expensive cologne; a heady mix of warm cinnamon, grapefruit and incense, with a hint of masculine leather; it was sexy. She inhaled deeply, filling up her lungs with the luscious aroma. It practically spelled seduction.

"Aren't the moons beautiful?" Zulia said, softly.

"Indeed," said Maximus, "I confess I have not seen true beauty in a long time."

But he wasn't talking about Colorosia. He was talking about her. He squeezed Zulia's hand.

Zulia gazed into the pool of light from the glowing moons, and felt an overwhelming feeling of ecstasy. She smiled contentedly and rested her head on Maximus's chest. Maximus looked at her for a second, then wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Zulia began to feel cosy within the warmth of his arms. She felt somewhat protected. A strange tingling sensation flowed through her body as he held her. She could feel his hands hold her chest, which felt oddly...pleasing...in a way. As she enjoyed the comfort of his touch, her eyelids began to droop.

As they sat there together, watching the brightly coloured moons glimmer up in the sky above them, Maximus began to feel...happy. He felt like he was where he belonged: with her. As he held Zulia in a protective embrace and gazed out at the moons, his eyelids drooped. He watched the colours reflect off the glass of his spaceship and felt a little sleepy.

Slowly, his eyes began to close, and they both drifted away.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **OK, maybe this chapter was a bit corny, but I think it tones the romance in a story to have a few corny moments.**


	7. Star of the Rink

**Chapter 7**  
 **Star of the Rink**

"I'm _so_ excited about today!" exclaimed Betty, as she and her friend Paloma walked into the school hockey rink in their hockey uniforms, "If we win this game, Moose Jaw Heights will go up into the big league!"

"This really means a lot to you, doesn't it?" smiled Paloma, as the hockey team entered the rink.

"More than anything!" exclaimed Betty, then lowered her voice, "Except maybe the safety of the universe."

"Well, I just hope your bracelet doesn't beep during the game," said Paloma, gazing at Betty's Galactic Guardian bracelet, "We're gonna need you."

"I'm sure it won't," said Betty, reassuringly, "Crime has settled down a bit in space, so now I can spend some quality time with my Earth friends." Then she grinned, knowingly. "And my Sharbena friend, too."

Paloma grinned.

"Hey, Betty!" a voice called.

Betty looked round and smiled. "Hi Dylan..." she said, dreamily.

"I can't _wait_ for the game," said Dylan, "I _really_ want to see you play."

Suddenly, Betty felt a jolt to her stomach. Dylan was going to be watching. Dylan was going to be watching her every move. What if something went wrong? What if her bracelet beeped? What if she screwed up? What if they lost the match?

Would Dylan think she was a loser?

She didn't have much time to worry, as Coach Sorenson blew his whistle shrilly.

"Moose Jaw Heights hockey team, let's move out!" called Coach Sorenson, and the team followed him into the wings.

"I've...gotta go," said Betty, smiling shyly at Dylan, then ran after the team.

"I'll get a good seat!" called Dylan.

"Thanks!" called Betty. _He is such a cutie,_ she thought, dreamily.

Dylan chose a seat in the front row. He wanted to have a clear view of Betty's expertise. More than anything did he want to see this.

"Dyyyyyylan!" drawled a high-pitched voice from over his shoulder.

Dylan sighed.

"I was wondering if this seat was taken?" asked Penelope, innocently, sliding into the seat next to him.

"No," said Dylan, reluctantly.

Penelope gave a dramatic gasp as her sidekicks Megan and Sarah sat down next to her. "Oh! _Really?"_ she said, with great enthusiasm, "Well why don't we watch the hockey game _together?"_

"Fine, whatever, Penelope. I just want to see Betty's hockey skills," said Dylan, "I've never been to the school hockey championships before. I hear Betty's the star of the rink."

"Oh yeah," sniffed Penelope, examining her petite nails, "Betty. Can't _wait."_

Suddenly, the buzzer went off. The game was about to begin! "Here they come!" exclaimed Dylan. He spotted Betty in her Moose Jaw Heights hockey uniform and waved. "Hey, Betty!" he called, "Good luck!"

Betty smiled and waved back.

Penelope snorted. "She'll jolly well need it!"

Penelope's eyes watched Betty with hatred for the next hour, as Betty scored goal after goal for her team. Betty was an excellent hockey player, and Penelope knew it. She hated that. She hated knowing that that redheaded space cadet was good at something. And it made it a whole lot worse that Dylan kept cheering her on. How the heck could Dylan like Betty!? She was a _geek!_

Dylan watched Betty with admiration. "She's amazing," he said, "I can see why they call her the star of the rink."

Penelope sniffed. "Star?" she scoffed, "Oh _please!_ She's got nothing special! She's a _commoner!"_ She gazed at Dylan and fluttered her eyelashes attractively. "But _I'm_ not."

Dylan deliberately looked away from Penelope and over at Betty. The other hockey team cornered her for the puck.

Penelope grinned. _This'll be good!_ she thought with a smirk.

Betty thought on her feet. She had a split second to think of something before they took the puck. Then she had an idea! She sped forwards across the ice towards the other team, then at the last minute, leaped off her feet and performed a Triple Flutz, twirling through the air over the hockey players, before landing on the other side and speeding the other way with the puck.

Dylan clapped.

"Ugh! That's nothing new!" snapped Penelope, trying desperately to get Dylan's attention, " _I_ can do that! Not to mention that appalling taste in clothing! Ugh! It's _so_ unfashionable!"

Megan and Sarah giggled!

Suddenly, just as Betty was about to score, her skates lost their grip on the ice! "Woo—oooaa—aaaah!" cried Betty, in fright, swerving backwards and forwards before slipping right over landing flat on her face in the ice. Her face burned with embarrassment. She had made a stupid mistake and fallen down, right there in front of Dylan. Now she guessed he really did think she was a klutz.

Penelope gasped in delight! "See!?" she said, triumphantly, tugging at Dylan's sleeve to get his attention and pointing at Betty, "She's such a loser! I mean, look at her! She can't even stay on her feet! She's always falling down like a stupid klutzy lump! Hah! See?"

"Well, so what if she fell down?" asked Dylan, "The important thing is she got back up." He watched Betty grab her hockey stick and rejoin the hockey team with a look of determination on her face. "See? Look how determined she is. She's got the right stuff."

Penelope's face contorted with anger. No—this was beyond anger. It was loathing. It was an expression that was known only too well. It was the expression that Penelope Lang wore every time she laid eyes on Betty.

Penelope gritted her teeth.

"You know, Dylan," she said, looking meaningfully at him and giving that sickeningly sweet smile, " _I_ like hockey, too!"

Dylan rolled his eyes, not fooled for a moment. "Really?" he said, sarcastically.

"Uh huh!" replied Penelope, enthusiastically, "It's my _favourite_ sport!"

"Right. I'm sure it is." Dylan gave a sigh and turned his attention back to the game.

Betty shot across the ice like a bullet, guiding the puck with her every move. She leapt gracefully past the other players, never letting it out of her sight. Two players headed right for her. Betty gasped! "Paloma!" she shouted, "On your left!" With a firm swipe, she whacked the puck over to Paloma, who was open. Betty whizzed round the players and hollered "Over here!" Paloma whacked the puck over to Betty, who shot towards the goal.

This was it. The big one. If Betty scored this goal, the game was theirs.

"Go Betty!" cheered Dylan.

Betty glanced over at him and grinned, but suddenly, her skates slipped again! Betty struggled to keep on her feet, but she couldn't! She catapulted over, tumbled to the ground and landed face first on the ice again! Her hockey stick spun out of her hands, and a player from the other team snatched the puck.

Penelope and her friends burst out laughing! "Next time!" Penelope called, "Don't practice your somersaults during hockey!"

Megan and Sarah giggled!

"Loser!" Penelope hollered!

Betty gritted her teeth together, resisting the urge to cry. Penelope and her toadies continued to laugh, but Dylan called out "Come on, Betty, you can do it!"

A fresh surge of determination flowed through Betty's body. She yanked herself up from the ice, grabbed her hockey stick and raced up to the other end of the rink. Dylan cheered. Penelope snorted.

"Come on, Betty!" Dylan cheered.

Determination filled Betty's face as she skated towards the goal, her eyes on the puck. But it was too late. The player from the other team gave a firm whack with his hockey stick, and the puck smacked into the net of Betty's team's goal. A few moments later the buzzer went off, signalling the end of the game. Betty slowed to a halt. No...

She couldn't believe it. They had lost. For the first time ever, their team had lost. And it was all her fault.

"What did I tell you?" Penelope said, proudly, "Loser!"

Betty took of her ice skates and hockey helmet a few minutes later, after the two teams had exited the rink. She tried to ignore her disappointment, but she failed. Betty, the hero of Moose Jaw Heights Elementary School's hockey, had lost her team the match. Even worse, she had done it in front of all her friends. Including Dylan. Not to mention Penelope.

"Nice _flopping,_ Betty," Penelope smirked, as she and her sidekicks shoved roughly past her, all but knocking her off her feet, "Awwwww, but don't be sad! All you did was mess up the _biggest_ game of the year in front of _everyone!"_ She and her toadies laughed nastily, then walked past.

Betty's eyes welled up, but she refused to give Penelope the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She sighed and got to her feet. _Maybe they're right,_ she thought, sadly, as she headed for the exit, _Maybe I'm nothing but a loser and a klutz._

"Hey, Betty, wait up!" a voice called. Dylan jogged up. Betty tried to smile, but it was hard. "Betty, you were amazing!" he said, in admiration, "I've never seen anything like it! You really are the star of the rink."

Betty looked up in surprise. "What? But...we lost," she said, "I missed the winning shot. I cost my team the game."

"Come on, Betty," Dylan smiled, "There's a lot more to a game than just winning. It's how you play that counts. Those moves you did were so cool."

Betty smiled. "Thanks, Dylan. You really know how to cheer me up. You wanna grab some ice cream after school?"

"I'd love to," replied Dylan, and they walked out of the hockey rink, holding hands.

Penelope, who had just been rejoicing after Betty's embarrassing moment of failure had been witnessed by the whole school, saw Dylan comfort Betty and clenched her teeth so tight, you'd think they would break.

WHAT!? Betty had just screwed up the whole game in front of Dylan! How could he _possibly_ still like her!?

"OOOOH!" Penelope screamed, "I! Hate! BETTY!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I always loved how they showed in the episodes that Penelope has absolutely no idea how to win a boyfriend. One of the main ways to tell if someone is a bad girlfriend is that they belittle and humiliate the other in order to make herself look good. And as if that would ever make Dylan like Penelope.**


	8. Is She The One?

**Chapter 8**  
 **Is She The One?**

When Maximus opened his eyes, he was in deep space, drifting through the starry skies of Colorosia in the seat of his blue spaceship. What's more, Zulia was asleep on his chest. Then he remembered. _I must have fallen asleep,_ Maximus realized, looking up at the stars. A lock of Zulia's pure white hair tickled his nose. He brushed it off.

He sat there in silence, listening to Zulia's soft breathing and felt her chest gently move beneath his hands. She looked so pretty when she was sleeping. Her green skin was smooth and unblemished, and her white hair was like a fluffy cloud enveloping her elegant visage, from her delicate black eyelashes to her full pink lips. Her shape was slim and refined, and her hands were like furled rosebuds.

So delicate...

So pretty...

He touched her cheek gently. _She's so beautiful,_ Maximus thought, _Maybe I really do still love her._ He caressed her forehead with his finger. Her skin felt as smooth as perfect silk. Zulia mumbled something, opened her eyes, peered up at him, and smiled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay," she said. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched. Then she glanced at her watch and jumped! "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, "I have to get back to Neutropia! If I'm not there when Sparky gets back, he'll freak!"

Maximus felt a little disappointed that they had to go back, but he agreed and set a course for Neutropia. He pressed the accelerator, and the spaceship zoomed off into the starry sky, leaving Colorosia behind. Zulia watched as the colourful planets in the distance got smaller and smaller, eventually vanishing from view. She turned back round and smiled.

"Thank you _so_ much," she said, smiling, "For asking me to come here."

Maximus shook his head. "No. Thank _you,"_ he said, looking at her, "For letting me. I must apologise for what I did to you, Zulia. When you're a supervillain, you're born to be evil. And whenever you have a chance, you have an instinct that just tells you to take it. But that's no excuse for what I did. I couldn't believe that even I was so heartless as to do that to someone I cared so much about. I was being selfish and uncaring and unkind and cruel. Even by _my_ standards."

Zulia struggled to contain her happiness. "Oh, it's alright," she said, smiling, "I think _everyone_ deserves a second chance."

"So you forgive me?"

"Definitely."

They closed their eyes and leaned in for a kiss, then just as their lips were about to touch—

"LOOK OUT!" shrieked Zulia, pointing to a stray asteroid hurtling towards their ship!

Maximus cried out and grabbed the controls! Their ship jerked to a halt, swerved to the left and missed the asteroid by about a centimetre! It turned a whole three hundred and sixty degrees before settling down.

They both sighed in relief!

"Wow!" exclaimed Zulia, breathlessly, "That was exciting!"

Maximus exhaled. Then he looked over at her and smiled deep inside.

Maximus may have been a supervillain who was utterly proud of his wicked ways, but ever since the day he had left Zulia, he hadn't been able to live with himself for what he had tried to do to her. Supervillainy and galactic domination was one thing, but that was different. After all they had been through that day, he had ferociously ripped out her heart for his own selfish desires, and had felt nothing but guilt of it afterwards. But now he felt glad. He didn't quite know how it would turn out, but he felt so happy that he had fixed it. Now he could be with her again, Galactic Guardian's mother or no.

He pressed a button on the controls to accelerate, and held Zulia's hand tightly as they shot through the stars.

After about thirty-five minutes, they descended into Neutropia's atmosphere, and landed in front of Zulia's house. The walls were dark purple and the roofs were pale silver. The windows were long and hexagonal, and there was an assortment of odd yet interesting-looking plants in her front yard.

"Your house is very enticing," said Maximus, looking at the colourful abode.

Zulia blushed. "Thank you," she said, smiling, "You should come over sometime when the kids aren't here. I tell you, I make some of the _best_ Berrilian eyeball soup on the planet."

"Riiiiiight...Berrilian eyeball soup," said Maximus, unconvincingly, "Heh heh heh...sounds _delicious."_

To be honest, Maximus found the Neutropian diet quite disgusting, but of course he certainly wasn't about to say that out loud.

"Well, I suppose I had better go," said Zulia, shyly. She let go of his hand and slid down from the seat. She was just about to step down onto Neutropia, when she paused. "Oh, and, Maxy?"

"Yes?"

Zulia smiled. "I had the _best_ time." Without warning, she leaped back onto the seat, wrapped her arms around Maximus's neck and kissed him on the cheek. Then she jumped down from the seat and exited the spaceship.

Maximus tenderly touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him, then without looking back, plotted a course for his citadel in V Quadrant into his spaceship's navigator. Zulia watched his spaceship exit the planet, then strode through her front door and into her house. She closed the door and sighed dreamily. She didn't think she'd felt so happy in a long time.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Ooooh, looks like someone's starting to fall in love! Let me rephrase that. Looks like some _two's_ starting to fall in love. I wonder how this will affect Maximus's life.**


	9. Bliss

**Chapter 9**  
 **Bliss**

The double doors with Maximus's insignia on flew open, and the tiny two-faced underling plodded into the citadel, holding a trunk and a surfboard, and looking like he had just had the time of his life.

"Oh, master!" he called down the corridor, "I'm hooooooome!"

Maximus strode out of his chambers towards the entrance and Minimus braced himself for any hits. After a whole week with no Minimus to hit, Maximus was sure to try and make up for them now. But strangely, none came.

"Welcome back, Minimus," said Maximus, in an unexpectedly nice tone, "How was your vacation?"

Minimus blinked. He had expected a "You're late!" or "Took you long enough!" or "Don't just stand there, I've got worlds to destroy!"

"It was pretty awesome," he said, "There was some great waves and I did a lot of surfing. Hey! Did you get my postcard?"

"Indeed," said Maximus, striding down, the hallway with Minimus on his heels, "It appeared you were having a _good_ time."

"Oh, it was _great._ Did you miss me?" Minimus asked, innocently.

"No," said Maximus, firmly, "But since you've had such a _relaxing_ time," He said the word _relaxing_ as if it were preposterous. "Get to work! My citadel hasn't been swept for a week!"

Minimus sighed. That was the Maximus he knew. His head swivelled round. "Did it ever occur to you to do it yourself!?" he growled, the his head swivelled round again.

"Oh—I mean, right away, your supreme vileness," he said, and then plodded off.

Maximus nodded, satisfied, then walked back to his chambers to relax while Minimus did all the work. He was glad things were back to normal, even if Minimus wasn't.

A few hours later, Minimus was still sweeping the citadel from top to bottom, and Maximus was relaxing in his chambers watching the news on 3-V.

"Minimus!" bellowed Maximus.

Minimus staggered into the room, looking decidedly shattered. His knees gave way, and he crumpled onto the floor. "Yes..." he croaked, "Your viciousness?"

"Get me some ice-cream, now," ordered Maximus.

"Oh—right away, your most demanding one," Minimus whispered, exhaustedly, and with what little strength he had left, crawled back out the door.

Then Maximus paused. "Second thoughts, you take a break," he said, standing up, "I'll do it myself."

Minimus's jaw dropped. Then his head swivelled round and his other jaw dropped, too. "What?"

"I said, you take a break, I'll do it myself," Maximus said, carelessly. He patted the settee, indicating for Minimus to sit down, then strode towards the door.

Minimus blinked in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Sure, you've been working for hours," Maximus said, in an unexpectedly good-natured manner. He absent-mindedly patted Minimus on the head and stepped out of the room, whistling as he went.

Minimus stared after him in astonishment. _He never whistles,_ thought Minimus, _And he never does his own work. I wonder what's up with him._ He shrugged, then hopped up onto the settee and spread himself out. The relaxation was blissful.

He nestled among the cushions, then picked up the remote and switched the channel on the 3-V. _Space Brains_ came on. Minimus shuddered and changed the channel again. He remembered when he and Maximus had tricked the Guardians into participating in _Space Brains_ so to discover Betty's home planet, but the plan had backfired and the two villains had ended up being contestants in the next _Space Brains_ episode. The agonizing pain that had come from participating was not worth thinking about.

He lay back and relaxed, until he heard the sound of Maximus's footsteps coming back. Time to get sweeping again. With great difficulty, he sat up and then gave a great wince due to his aching bones.

Maximus strode back into the room, holding _two_ bowls of ice cream. He sat down on the settee, then placed the bowls on top of the antique table in front of it and pushed one towards Minimus. "Here."

Minimus blinked. "Ummm...is that for me?" he asked, curiously.

"Well, who else would it be for?"

Minimus picked up the bowl and eyed it suspiciously. Knowing Maximus, he had probably put some kind of vile-tasting substance in it that would make Minimus violently sick. That would certainly amuse him. Minimus shrugged. Oh well. It was nothing new. He picked up the spoon and shovelled a large hunk of ice cream into his mouth. He chewed it. He expected it to taste like garbage or galactic slime, but it didn't.

"Ooh," exclaimed Minimus, swallowing the ice cream and peering into the bowl, "Raspberry ripple. My favourite."

"I know," said Maximus, jauntily.

Minimus shovelled some more ice cream into his mouth. "Mmmmm mmmm," he said, jiggling around in his seat, playfully, "Thanks, boss!"

"I figure you deserve it," Maximus said, good-naturedly.

Minimus swallowed a mouthful of ice cream. That was the second nice thing Maximus had done for him in two minutes. Not like him. Not like him at all. Minimus peered up at his master, curiously. He seemed to be in a very good mood. _For once!_ he thought, ferociously.

He decided to take a fatal risk. "Master...why are you being so...nice...all of a sudden?" he asked. Then he screwed his eyes shut and braced himself for the whack on the head that he always got when he dared to ask Maximus anything. That was one of the most important rules of being a minion. Never question the supervillain. He waited for the hit, but it didn't come. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Maximus didn't seem to have heard him. He was staring into space with a somewhat dreamy expression on his face.

"Um...boss?" Minimus said nervously. He poked Maximus on the shoulder. Maximus started.

"Did you say something?" He looked down at Minimus.

Minimus hesitated. Should he ask?

 _No,_ he decided. These last few minutes had been risky enough. He shook his head, causing several loud clicking noises.

"No," Minimus said, innocently. He picked up the bowl again and started eating the rest of the ice cream, avoiding eye contact with his master and feeling a little freaked out.

 _Why is he being nice to me? Has he gotten concussed? Has he been replaced by an alien imposter? Is it Minion Day today? I didn't know._ Minimus's mind sped through a million theories. However, none of them seemed very likely. Minimus's eyes suddenly watered. He had swallowed some ice cream a little too quickly and it was currently freezing his throat to ice. He suffered in silent agony as he waited for the pain to subside. When it did, he flashed a quick look at Maximus. His eyes were drifting away and his face had shifted back to that dreamy expression again. Minimus felt very puzzled.

 _What's going on with him?_ he wondered.

...

Sparky stared curiously at his mother. Zulia was whipping up a pot of her famous slugworm-and-Suncrusian-dung-beetle stew for dinner, but didn't seem to be paying a bit of attention to her surroundings. Her body seemed to be working on autopilot as she absent-mindedly chopped up a batch of slugworms and threw them into the pot. She had a dreamy and somewhat starry-eyed expression on her face. Sparky sat motionlessly at the kitchen table, wondering if he should say something. Something was obviously up. Zulia was always very lively and talkative at mealtimes, as she valued the time she spent with Sparky so much, but today she seemed to have something else on her mind.

 _What's up with mom?_ thought Sparky, _Should I ask her about it?_

"So, mom..." he said, uncertainly, "Did you get up to anything today?"

"Oh...nothing much," Zulia said, vaguely, her eyes not shifting from the far-away look, "The same old things...what about you?"

"Oh, it was _crazy!"_ exclaimed Sparky, his voice converting to an enthusiastic tone, "An army of blood-sucking Tiberian leeches were invading the planet Zark! I'd never seen anything like it! The planet was practically destroyed, and next to all the inhabitants had been eaten! You should see the bites I got! Me and the crew practically got eaten alive!"

"That's nice, honey..." said Zulia, vaguely.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **OK...I don't really have anything to say about this chapter, so...keep reading!**


	10. She's All In Your Head

**Chapter 10**  
 **She's All In Your Head**

He thought of Zulia nonstop. Even in his dreams of ducks and yarn balls he could not escape her. Every free moment his mind had, he thought of her; her pearly eyes, her fluffy white hair, her sweet rose petal scent...

 _I think I'm in love,_ thought Maximus, as he sorted through his vast array of death rays.

His change in behaviour had not, of course, gone unnoticed by Minimus. Maximus's affair with Zulia had brought out the best in him, and he had started being much more easy-going on Minimus, much to the minion's surprise, curiosity and delight.

One afternoon, Maximus had been drawing up some detailed blueprints for a new death ray, when his mind had drifted to Zulia again. He just hadn't been able to get her out of his head. While he had daydreamed about what had happened last week, he had let his hand take over drawing the blueprints. Then when he had jerked out of his thoughts and his eyes had resumed to the blueprints, he had realized his hand was drawing that same symbol he had carved onto the moons for Zulia years ago.

That had been very weird. He hadn't meant to draw it. He had quickly discarded it, of course, as he wasn't going to let anybody else find out about this, not even Minimus. Maximus definitely wasn't going to admit he was in love with a Galactic Guardian's mother.

At least, not out loud.

...

Zulia couldn't stop thinking about how protectively Maximus had held her last week. It was like nothing could ever hurt her when she was in the safety of his arms.

The more she thought about him, the less evil he seemed. Perhaps she had been right. Perhaps there was more to a supervillain than met the eye. There certainly was to Maximus. He may have been an insanely evil overlord, but he really knew how to make a good date. Zulia had been single for so long now that she had almost forgotten what a date was like. As she sat in her desk chair and fantasized about her and Maximus, that same tingling sensation from before crept upon her body. Her eyes grazed her desk and lingered on the front cover she had designed for _Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers._ It was of two young souls, just their silhouettes, dancing in the light of three moons, one blue, one purple, and one pink like Araminta, their shadows casting over the darkened nature scene. It was romantic. Zulia leaned in to get a closer look. She let her imagination take over and imagined her and Maximus on the front cover. She smiled.

Had that trip to Colorosia just been for fun? Or was it the start of something real? Zulia didn't know, but she was starting to get the impression that she and Maximus really did have something. She just didn't know how it could work. How could she possibly be with Maximus? He was evil.

Gosh...if Sparky found out what she had done...oh goodness...

Still...the way he had held her...she truly had felt right with him, Supreme Evil Overlord or no. Perhaps she could just keep it a secret. Perhaps Zulia could be like Atomic Betty, with two separate lives, one that was normal and one that was secret. Sparky need never know.

Before she could change her mind, Zulia grabbed the phone. She scrolled through the list of recent calls until she found the one from last Thursday when Maximus had called her. She pressed the call button and waited with bated breath as it rang.

...

"It has the power to melt entire galaxies, and then some!" declared Maximus, running his finger down a large page of data and diagrams, "It is more powerful than any death ray yet created! I know, I know. Such _genius."_

He was reviewing his evil plans with Minimus, who, as usual, showered him with compliments. That _was_ what Minimus did for life, after all. Maximus had a plan for a special death ray that could destroy entire galaxies with just one blast.

"With this new death ray, I shall have the power to make every galaxy in the universe grovel at my feet!" declared Maximus, "And then do you know what I'll do?"

"Crush the Galactic Guardians once and for all?" guessed Minimus, innocently.

"Correct, Minimus!" Maximus declared, gleefully, "And with those pesky Guardians out of the way, soon after, we shall _rule_ the universe! Mwahahahahaha!" He ended his speech with an evil laugh.

"Genius!" cheered Minimus, clapping his hands, excitedly, "Super genius!"

Then he stopped.

"Wait," he said, slowly, "Did you just say..."we"?"

"Well, of course, you _are_ my sidekick, I should think you get a little credit," said Maximus, casually.

Minimus's jaw dropped! No way! It wasn't possible! Had Maximus just said what Minimus thought he had said!? He had!

Maximus carried on explaining the details of his plan, while Minimus watched in astonishment. Never, in all his years, had Minimus ever heard Maximus say the word _we._ It was always _I._ " _I_ shall defeat the Galactic Guardians! _I_ shall destroy the planet! _I_ shall control the universe!"

As Maximus busied himself going through the data, the telephone on top of his antique table rang.

Maximus looked round. "Oh...I'll just get that," said Maximus, striding over. "Hello?" he queried, holding the phone to his ear.

"Maximus?" said a shy voice from the end of the line.

Maximus's eyes snapped open wide when he realized it was Zulia.

"Just a moment," he whispered, then covered the phone with his hand and turned round.

"Minimus, would you please be so kind as to give me a minute?" he asked.

Minimus stared at him in astonishment. When Maximus wanted to be left alone, he rarely bothered with words, he would just grab Minimus by the back of his tunic and throw him out of the room. And if not that, the most that Minimus ever got was a "Get out of my sight, you repulsive creature!", and the word "please" had long since been dispensed with.

"Oh—whatever you say, boss," Minimus said meekly, and plodded out of the room.

Maximus put the phone up to his ear. "Zulia?"

"Well...about that...trip...the other day...at Colorosia," Zulia said, shyly, and Maximus could tell from the tone of her voice that she was smiling, "I just wanted to say...how much I enjoyed...being with you."

Maximus's cheeks turned very pink as she said that.

"How _kind_ of you to say so, my dear," he said, with a smile, "I must say I was exceedingly grateful for your company, too."

"And...I was hoping that...maybe...we could do that again sometime," Zulia said, shyly, "Maybe at some other place...it would be nice..."

"Hmmmmm..." Maximus twiddled his whiskers in thought, "You know what? I think I know just the place."

Minimus stood a few metres away from the door, itching with curiosity. He could hear Maximus's voice from behind the door, but couldn't make out the words. His fingers twitched. Minimus was a very inquisitive person. He hated not knowing what was going on. He leaned closer, but still couldn't make out what Maximus was saying. Then, when he just couldn't stand it anymore, Minimus peeped in through the door crack, only just able to see Maximus put down the phone and sit back against the seat. He stared at the phone with half-dreamy eyes and a rare smile on his face.

Minimus's eyes widened. Something was going on. Taking a horrible risk, he pushed open the door and braced himself for any smacks that were yet to come.

Maximus spotted Minimus and abruptly stood up, the expression vanishing from his feline features. "Where was I? Oh yes. Come, Minimus, let us finish reviewing our evil schemes, shall we?"

Minimus's eyes widened. Again, Maximus had said _our_ instead of _my._

"Whatever you say, boss," he said, obsequiously, and plodded over.

Maximus tried to concentrate on his evil plans, but he just couldn't rid his mind of Zulia. She had been in his thoughts for practically a week, and now she and him seemed to be getting in deeper.

"I think that's enough evil planning for one night," he said, all of a sudden, "I'm feeling _very_ tired." He feigned an excessive yawn, and strode towards the door. "Goodnight, Minimus." He exited the room, leaving Minimus standing there with a look of intrigue and confusion on his face.

Minimus stared at the door and took in what had just happened. First Maximus had let him relax, then brought him ice cream, _then_ stopped abusing him, and now he had just used the phrases _we,_ _please,_ and _goodnight._ To Minimus, of all people. This was unnatural. Very unnatural.

Then a smile twitched at Minimus's lips. Maximus was being nice to him. Regularly. This wasn't just unnatural. This was brilliant.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Looks like they're going for second date! Or third if you count the one from _Slime Of The Century._ And I think Minimus is going to have some fun with Maximus too.**


	11. Multi-Plasma Nectar

**Chapter 11**  
 **Multi-Plasma Nectar**

"Now can I look?" Zulia pestered.

"Not yet," replied Maximus, who had his hand over Zulia's eyes, "We're almost there. No peeking."

Zulia felt the gravity increase slightly as their spaceship descended into the atmosphere of Nectaranius, although she could not see it.

Maximus put on the brakes and withdrew his hand from Zulia's face. "OK," he said, in a seductive tone, " _Now_ you can look."

Zulia opened her eyes and was astounded to say the least. She gasped in astonishment! The planet was covered with brightly coloured vegetation, with the plants and bushes creating a maze over the scene and the sparkling pink lake of Multi-Plasma Nectar twinkling in the sunlight on the horizon.

"Oh, Maxy, what a _view!"_ exclaimed Zulia, gazing out at the scene below, "How on Neutropia do you find these places!?"

"A Supreme Evil Overlord does have his ways and means," said Maximus, coquettishly. He knew she would like it. "I ventured to this planet not longer than a year ago to capture the lake of Multi-Plasma Nectar. One of my greatest schemes so far, if I might say so myself. Oh, but I'll spare you the story."

Zulia put her chin in her hands and looked at him intently. It was obvious she wanted to hear every detail.

"Oh, if I must," he said, smiling, and told Zulia all about how he had come to Nectaranius intending to drain the lake of Multi-Plasma Nectar to make himself all powerful. He told her how Minimus had used the nectar in the plants to create an army of giant ants so to get to the lake faster, but how Betty, Sparky and X-5 had intervened. He told her how his army of ants had chased them off the cliff and and how he and Minimus had reached the lake and both drank the nectar, octupling their size. Finally, he reluctantly told her how Betty, Sparky and X-5 had used honey water to turn his army of giant ants against him and chase him and Minimus away from the lake. It felt a little embarrassing to say it, as Maximus hated admitting that he had been beaten, but Zulia thoroughly enjoyed the story, so he didn't mind.

"That sounds _so_ exciting!" she exclaimed, when she managed to stop laughing, "I never get to do anything like that!" She wiped a tear from her eye. She had to admit, he may have been evil, but he told fantastic stories.

"My life is _ever_ so thrilling at times," Maximus said, flirtatiously. He didn't mention that he and Minimus had been so huge due to the nectar that they had barely squished into their spaceship afterwards. That had been very humiliating. It had taken _weeks_ to wear off, and when it did, Maximus had sworn to never enter Nectaranius again. Until now, of course.

Zulia laughed. "You know, I never thought supervillains could be very winning," she said, sexily, sliding over to him, "But _you_ have quite the charm."

"Why, _thank you,_ my dear," he said, smiling, "I say let's just forget _all_ about that little incident we had, shall we?"

Zulia nodded, smiling. "I'd like that." She moved closer to him to indulge in an embracing hug.

He closed his arms around her and nuzzled her on the forehead. She felt so much nicer than a ceramic duck.

Zulia nestled her head in his chest. His robe was so soft it was like being in bed. His hand slipped past her waist and onto her chest, and Zulia felt that same feeling of protection that she had felt last week. She smiled and looked up at him. The sparkle in his mysterious black eyes told her that he was enjoying every moment of this just as much as she was. Zulia decided she had been right. Maximus wasn't the black-hearted devil that the rest of the universe saw him as. Not to her, at least. He was deep. She liked that. As a result of spending some time together last week, all of Maximus's confidence had come back, and now it was just like old times. It was as if their little break-up incident had never even happened in the first place.

"This place is _so_ beautiful," Zulia mused, looking down at the view of overflowing colour. Then she gasped! "Could we go down and take a look?" she exclaimed.

"Of course," replied Maximus. He pressed a button on the controls and the ship descended down, landing at the edge of the maze of vegetation, just a few metres from the lake.

Zulia felt very excited. She and Maximus exited the ship and Zulia looked around in wonder. It was even more beautiful close up. The scene was covered softly with grass and tiny flowers. Off to the side of the lake were endless green plants and bushes all nestled together to make one beautiful piece of art. Vines weaved their way down from the trees that towered from on top of the bushes. After a few moments, the pair reached the shores of the sparkling pink lake. It was about three feet deep, and looked similar to the pool of pink light that Zulia had seen when Araminta had exploded.

Zulia was mesmerised. "What is that?" she murmured, reaching out to touch the shimmering pink liquid.

Maximus gasped! "Whoah, whoah, whoah, _DON'T_ touch that!" he exclaimed in alarm, and whisked her away from the pink liquid.

Zulia exhaled.

" _That_ is Multi-Plasma Nectar," he said, putting her back down on the grass, "It quadruples the size of anything it touches. Watch this."

He rummaged in his inside pockets and took out one of his Max-Land keyrings. He flicked it into the lake of nectar, and it instantly swelled to four times its size!

"Wow!" exclaimed Zulia.

"I strongly suggest we refrain from touching that," said Maximus, keeping her well away from the pool of nectar as they withdrew, "Why don't we have a picnic? I did bring along nourishment."

He strode back over to his spaceship, then reached underneath the seat and picked up a large picnic basket. Earlier this morning, he had had Bernadette pack it with everything he knew Zulia liked.

Zulia licked her lips as they sat down on the grass. She _was_ feeling a little peckish, after all.

 _This should be fun,_ thought Maximus with a slight grimace, as he watched Zulia eye the picnic basket hungrily. Zulia was extremely pretty and very good company, but she did have quite a monumental appetite, which was never very pleasant to watch. The best he could do was just look away.

But to Maximus's surprise, Zulia held back her appetite from the Neutropian level and did not gorge herself endlessly like she usually did. It was terribly hard to eat slowly, as she was feeling quite hungry, and Maximus had the best personal chef in the entire galaxy, but she knew it wouldn't be very ladylike to wolf down everything instantly, and she wanted to impress Maximus. The food was delicious, though, and she ate as much as she could without pigging out.

"Where _do_ you get all this _delicious_ food?" she mused, swallowing a mouthful.

Maximus tapped his nose mysteriously, and Zulia laughed. She took a bite out of a juicy red papaya, and let the sweet juice run down her throat. She looked up at Maximus. "Not hungry?" she queried, seeing that he wasn't eating, "You should eat something. You must be hungry by now. Eat something, you need nutrients." She spoke in a motherly tone of voice.

Maximus rolled his eyes amusedly and picked up a scone. Satisfied that Maximus was eating, Zulia resumed to her papaya.

Maximus got into it, and found that he was quite hungry. Bernadette cooked the best food in the galaxy, so he completely knew why Zulia wanted to eat so much. It was quite irresistible.

Zulia finished off her papaya, then picked up some fancy cordial that Maximus had brought along with the food. It had a unique flavour; sweet and fruity; it wasn't like any drink she had ever tasted before. She finished it off, then poured herself another glass. Maximus drank three cartons of full-cream milk and then started grooming his hand as if preparing for a cat bath.

"Could you not do that?" asked Zulia, "It's a little...disturbing."

"Oh," said Maximus. He smiled and put his hand down. "I apologise."

For a few more minutes they ate in silence, until Zulia decided she should stop. She was still hungry, of course, but she didn't want Maximus to think she was being greedy. She edged a little closer to him and looked out at the view. She breathed in the fresh Nectaranian air and looked out at the beautiful pink lake. The brisk air nibbled at her skin as the sun, shining over the lake, warmed her body.

"This planet is _so_ beautiful," Zulia commented.

"It _does_ have its enticing features," said Maximus, seductively, letting his hand make its way through her hair, "But pales in comparison to _your_ beauty."

"Oh, shut up." Zulia gave him a playful nudge. He winked at her.

They gazed out at the lake and Maximus felt all warm and tingly inside. Normally he despised pink, but he had to admit it was quite a view. It was romantic. It was a special place for the two of them. Then something growing amongst the vines and stalks in the maze of vegetation caught Maximus's feline eye. It was a flower, star-shaped with a silver centre and deep turquoise petals. He plucked it off the vine and tucked it into Zulia's hair. She blushed and lightly touched the petals, then leaned over and gave Maximus a quick kiss on the cheek. He looked over at her with a rare smile. As he stroked the side of her face with his gentle hand, she felt his touch melt over her. She nuzzled up to his chest and enjoyed the warmth.

"I'm lonely, Maxy..."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Looks like they're getting serious. You know, I always thought that Maximus I.Q. had a way with the ladies. From what I saw in _Slime Of The Century,_ I think that deep down, Maximus is actually quite a nice guy. To Zulia at least. And that part at the end of the episode just didn't make sense to me. I mean, he really did love her, so I just don't understand why he would try to obliterate her with such ease. That _is_ why I wrote this story, after all.**


	12. Baby Bottle

**Chapter 12**  
 **Baby Bottle**

"TERMI-NANNY!" howled Infantor, who was sitting in his baby seat, wearing a bib, "It's time for my milk! You's goes and gets it right now!"

Infantor's Termi-Nanny growled, but obeyed. She headed into the ship's kitchen and opened the fridge. She searched around for a milk carton, but they were all empty. Her eyes widened in panic! If Infantor didn't get his milk, he would throw a tantrum! And she did not want to be there when that happened.

"TERMI-NANNY!"

She sighed, then braced herself and walked back into the room, where Infantor was sitting with an impatient look on his face.

"Termi-Nanny, where's that milk?" Infantor demanded, "I wants it NOW!"

The Termi-Nanny shivered. "It appears we're all out," she said, in a nervous metal voice.

"WHAT!?" bellowed Infantor, standing bolt upright in his baby chair and ripping off his bib, "Whadda you means we's all out!? Who's the boss arounds here!? Me! You's the one supposed to follow mine orders! AND I WANTS MY MIIIIIIIIILK!"

...

The class entered the science lab, and everybody put on their lab coats and goggles. Today they were going to be dissecting frogs. Betty didn't want to feel like a bully, but she couldn't _wait_ to see the look on Penelope Lang's face when she found out she had to pick apart frog guts with her hands. Maybe she would scream. Or, even better, faint. Anyhow, Betty was sure it would be good.

"Has everybody got their coat and goggles on?" asked Ms. Stone, their science teacher. The whole class nodded.

"Then I need you all to collect your equipment from the draws," Ms. Stone said, pointing to the draws on the left side of the room, "We're dissecting frogs today."

"WHAT!?" shrieked Penelope Lang in horror!

The whole class looked at her, including Ms. Stone.

"You—You can't be serious!" exclaimed Penelope.

Ms. Stone fixed Penelope with a hard stare. "Yes, I'm serious, Miss Lang," she said.

"Ugh!" exclaimed Penelope, with a look of repulsion on her face, "If my parents found out I had to participate in these _repulsive_ activities, they'd have this school shut down for good!"

"Miss Lang, you are going to participate in this, whether you like it or not," said Ms. Stone, sternly, "Unless you'd like to run it by Principal Peterson?"

Penelope took a step back and shook her head in fright.

"Excellent," replied Ms. Stone, "Now, class, let's get started."

"Squishy..." Penelope moaned, as she held the frog's body with her hand and dissected it with her scalpel, "Wet...cold...slimy...gooey...mushy...squidgy..."

Betty stifled a laugh. "Is it OK that I'm kind of loving this?" she asked Noah.

Noah nodded. "Definitely," he grinned.

Suddenly, Betty's bracelet began to vibrate!

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

She used the classic washroom excuse to escape from class, and without further ado, beamed up into her starcruiser.

"Atomic Betty, reporting for duty!" she saluted, jumping up into her captain's chair.

"Hiya, chief!" exclaimed Sparky.

"Atomic Betty," said Admiral DeGill, on the starcruiser's video screen, "We need you. Infantor is on the loose again!"

"What's he up to this time?" asked Betty.

"Infantor is using a mysterious weapon to turn the universe's water supplies into milk, and draining it," reported Admiral DeGill, "Observe."

He pressed a button on his simulator, and the image on the video screen shifted to a lake scene. Betty, X-5 and Sparky watched as Infantor's ship descended on it. The top opened, and a large ray gun unfolded from beneath and zapped the water with a blast of white light. With that one blast from the mysterious ray, the crystal clear water turned into a pool of thick white fluid. The ray gun disappeared back into Infantor's ship and a long tube exited. The nozzle disappeared beneath the surface of the milk, and sucked up the entire thing.

"He has already drained the water depositories of the planet Crusexus, the rivers of Edenia and the giant lake of Quinzetel!" reported Admiral DeGill, "He was last seen heading to the freshwater planet of Nozama. Your mission: stop that fiendish infant before the universe become a dry, waterless desert!"

"You can count on us, Admiral!" declared Betty, saluting.

...

"Mwahahahahaha!" giggled Infantor, as the milk flooded into his hundreds of colossal milk tanks, "Thanks to this here milk-zapper, I'll never haves to pay for milk again! Think of them savings! This is the greatest plot I thinks I's ever had!"

His Termi-Nanny suddenly gave an alarmed shout and pointed out of their ship's viewer. Infantor turned round. His eyes narrowed at the sight of Betty's bright red starcruiser.

"We-ell," drawled Infantor, "If it ain't Atomic Betty and her pals. Since she's come all this way...TERMI-NANNY! ACTIVATE THE SPACE RATTLES!"

Seeing the army of flying sabre-toothed space rattles exit Infantor's ship, Atomic Betty gasped! "Infantor! He's spotted our ship! Quick, Sparky, engage the ray!"

"Aye aye, chief!" Sparky slammed his hand onto the button, and their lazer zapped rattle after rattle with its scorching hot beam, causing dozens to instantly disintegrate!

"We've handled your space rattles before, we can do it again, you undersized little creep!" hollered Sparky, shaking his fist at Infantor's ship as they continued to take out his rattles.

"Ahem," said X-5, tonelessly, "You do realize that he cannot hear you?"

"Oh, shut up, you sardine can with a growth spurt!" snapped Sparky.

Infantor watched Betty's ship take out his rattles and screamed in fury! "TERMI-NANNY!" he screeched, "TAKE THOSE MEDDLING GUARDIANS OUT WITH THE LAZER!

"That's the last of 'em!" declared Sparky, taking out the last flock of rattles, "Now let's go and show that little pipsqueak what happens when you mess with Galactic Guardians!"

"Not yet, Sparky," exclaimed Betty, "WATCH OUT!"

Sparky screamed and yanked the controls, making the ship swerve out of the way of the dozens of blasts of lazer fire coming from Infantor's ship.

"Termi-Nanny! Blast them!" screamed Infantor, "I wants 'em all DESTROYED!"

"Hold onto your stomachs!" yelled Sparky, twirling the wheel round yanking at all the controls as they ducked the lazer fire from Infantor's ship.

"I-I-I-I thi-i-i-ink I-I-I-I'm gonna-a-a be-e-e si-i-i-ck..." moaned Betty, queasily, as the starcruiser turned loop after loop, avoiding the lazers, and their stomachs all jumped up into their throats. Then Infantor's Termi-Nanny took a particularly good aim, and managed to land a blast right on the side of Betty's starcruiser, crunching up the side thrusters.

"We've been hit!" screed Sparky, as their ship catapulted downwards.

"E-e-everybody ho-o-o-old o-o-on!" exclaimed Betty, as everyone in the ship was thrown back and forth. She grabbed the sides of her captain's chair to steady herself. "Sparky!" she yelled, "See if you can land in Infantor's docking bay!"

"Aye, aye chief!"

The ship catapulted downwards, twisting this way and that, and Betty and her crew felt like they were in a tumbledryer. Using what little power they had left, Sparky yanked on the controls and the ship crashed down into Infantor's docking bay.

"Uggggghhhh..." moaned Betty, as she steadily got to her feet, considerably bruised, "Sparky? X-5? Are you OK?"

"Affirmative, captain," said X-5, whom aside from a few dents and scratches, looked fine.

"I'm OK," said Sparky, gingerly, rubbing his bruised skin.

"And I thought the Coaster of Doom made me feel queasy," said Betty, looking slightly green. She swallowed once or twice, then jumped up. "Alright, boys," she said, "We've still got that baby to bust."

"Hi-YA!" Betty kicked open the door of Infantor's throne room and aimed her bracelet lazer at the baby sitting in the high-tech highchair, "Alright, Infantor! You're busted!"

Infantor chuckled. "Nice entrance, loser heroes," he smirked, "I bet you's all been lookin' forward to this, eh, Atomic Betty?"

"Infantor!" she ordered, "I order you to surrender!"

"Sorry," he drawled, "But I gots _other_ plans. Y'see, I been makin' a few adjustments to this here highchair of mine."

He pressed a button on the control panel of his highchair, and the Guardians watched in horror as it began to transform. Mechanics unfolded from the back, enclosing the sides in a yellow metal casing. Two robotic arms with fiendish claws unfolded from the sides, and two robotic legs with deadly spiked soles ejected from the bottom, cracking the stone floor. Infantor's seat rose up as the transformation completed, and his head disappeared behind the glass. Then, with one push of a button, a dozen multi-sized death weapons ejected from the back. Death rays, buzzsaws, flamethrowers, tasers, heat-seeking missiles...you name it.

"Hows about now?" purred Infantor, "Are you's _scaaaaaaaared?"_

The Guardians's jaws dropped.

"I didn't see _that_ coming," said X-5.

"I think I'd rather be back in science class right now," said Betty, trembling.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Oooooooh, I am so EVIL, leaving you on a cliffhanger like that! Keep reading, folks!**


	13. Milk Mayhem

**Chapter 13**  
 **Milk Mayhem**

"Sparky, help me distract him!" yelled Betty, running forwards, "X-5, get the generator!"

"Aye aye, chief!"

Betty whipped out her katanas and leaped up towards the glass dome of Infantor's robo suit. She was just about to slash the glass into pieces when the suit's claw shot up and with a firm WHAM! to her head, sent her flying across the room and into the side of the milk tank.

She blinked. Stars twinkled around her eyes as she struggled to stay in focus. "Sparky..." she mumbled, blinking rapidly and shaking her head so to not pass out, "X-5..."

"Uh, X-5, I could kinda use your help here!" exclaimed Sparky, who was being held in a vice-like grip by Infantor's claw.

"Give me another 2.456 seconds," said X-5, who was trying to get the generator from the back of Infantor's robo suit.

"Oh, nice try, robot," sneered Infantor, "But you'd didn't see THIS!"

He slammed his hand onto the controls, and another robotic arm with a huge hammer popped out of the back of the robo suit and slammed X-5 flat to the floor.

"X-5!" Betty exclaimed! She ferociously shook the sleep out of her eyes. "I'm coming, Sparky!" she yelled! She grabbed her katanas from the floor and jumped up, aiming at the robotic hand holding Sparky. Black dots flashed in her vision as she struggled to keep her balance, and it didn't help when the right hand of Infantor's robo suit grabbed her and smashed her into the wall! Her vision swirled and spun as she fell to her knees.

"Sparky..." murmured Betty, her eyelids drooping from fatigue, "Don't...worry...I'll...save...you...uggghhhh..."

And with that, her body collapsed and she smacked face-first into the floor, unconscious.

"Chief!" exclaimed Sparky and X-5 in horror!

"Sorry, losers!" smirked Infantor, looking at Sparky, "Looks like it's time for you's to die! Mwahahahahahaha!"

...

"Sorry you's can't be in more comfortable conditions," purred Infantor, "But you's been meddlin' with my plans for too long, Atomic Betty. Time for you's to say goodbye."

He pressed a button on the remote control in his minute hand, and the device suspending Betty, Sparky and X-5 began to move downwards.

"You know, it seems like every time we fight Infantor, he tried to drown us in something different," noted Sparky, as they descended down towards the vat of scalding hot milk, "First it was Colorosian magma, then melted chocolate, and now milk."

The three tried to free themselves from the rope, but it was no good.

"There's no point in tryin' to escape," drawled Infantor, breezily, "Even if you get out, you'll only fall right in! Mwahaha!"

As Infantor said that, Betty suddenly had an idea. She struggled against the bonds, until she finally managed to free her hand. "Engage magnetic retriever!" she ordered her bracelet, aiming it right at the remote in Infantor's hand. Like a bolt of lightning, the magnetic retriever shot out of her bracelet and locked onto Infantor's remote. Infantor only just had time to look surprised, before the cable retreated, instantly bringing the remote into Betty's hand.

"Nice shot, chief!" exclaimed Sparky.

"Thanks!" exclaimed Betty. She pressed a button on the remote and the claw holding them above the cat of milk slid to the left and dropped them onto the floor. They quickly untied themselves and made a break for it.

"TERMI-NANNY! DESTROY THEM!" screeched Infantor!

The Termi-Nanny growled and headed right for them, fists raised.

"Boys!" exclaimed Betty, "You handle the Termi-Nanny, I'll take care of Infantor!"

"Come on, X-5!" yelled Sparky, grabbing a lazer from his belt, "Let's show them what we're made of!

" _I_ am made of a heat-resistant alloy called Dydactium," replied X-5. His hands descended into his arms and a pair of boxing gloves popped out.

They both charged at the Termi-Nanny. A few firm blows from X-5's boxing gloves, and she was thrown back onto the floor. Sparky grabbed the coil of rope they had been tied up in and tossed around the Termi-Nanny.

"Quick, X-5, grab the other end!" exclaimed Sparky, landing on the floor with the end of the rope in his hand.

X-5 grabbed the other end, as the Termi-Nanny struggled against the rope.

"Now, quick, tie her u—" Sparky stated, but in the blink of an eye, X-5 whizzed round the Termi-Nanny two dozen times, leaving her all trussed up like an Egyptian mummy. She squirmed and wriggled, trying to escape, but fell flat on her face as the rope refused to break.

Sparky stood there motionless for a few seconds, then shook himself out of it. "I coulda done that too," he said, defiantly.

Betty jumped and leaped and skidded all across the floor, avoiding Infantor's lazers. She deflected one with her bracelet shield, and then one missed her ponytail by a hair's breadth as she turned a full somersault in the air and landed in lunge.

"Heat-seeking missiles!" Betty ordered her bracelet. Three bright red missiles blasted out of her bracelet, heading straight for Infantor's yellow robo suit!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" screamed Infantor, as the missiles headed towards him!

With an enormous KABOOM!, Infantor's robo suit exploded in a burst of singed metal and burnt mechanics!

"Waaaaaaaaah!" Infantor screamed, as he shot down through the air.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Betty, leaping up and grabbing him in her hands, "Now how do we fix the damage?"

"Give me 7.932846 seconds," said X-5, scooting over to the supercomputer. He tapped away at some of the buttons, and after 7.932846 seconds, he returned. "There," he said, "I have reprogrammed the milk-zapper to fire in reverse. It will return all the lost water to its original places."

"Good work, X-5," smiled Betty.

"Waa-haaaa-haaaa-HAAAAAAAAAAA!" bawled Infantor, "That's not faaaaaaaaair!"

"You're a villain, Infantor, and the villain _always_ loses," said Betty, firmly, "Perhaps a few weeks in jail will help you realize that."

She dropped him onto the floor and X-5 took out a pair of handcuffs.

"Hey!" Infantor snapped, as X-5 clicked them on his wrists, "Careful wi'dem cuffs! Oooooh...you's ain't seen the last of me, Atomic Betty! One day I'll get you!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I know these two chapters didn't have anything to do with the Maximus x Zulia thing, but nobody ever writes about Infantor, and he is my third favourite villain after Maximus and Iciclia, so I wanted to write a little part about him, if not a whole story. Besides, even if Maximus hasn't committed any crimes recently due to being with Zulia, there are still loads of other villains that Betty would be fighting on her daily missions.**

 **Now, onto Chapter 14! Warning: corny scenes plausible.**


	14. Kiss Me

**Chapter 14**  
 **Kiss Me**

"That was _amazing,_ Maxy," said Zulia, watching as their ship slowly rose up from Nectaranius's surface. She desperately didn't want to leave, as it was such a place to see, but she knew she had to. "I don't think I've ever met someone so full of surprises."

"People _do_ say that about me," said Maximus, flirtatiously.

Zulia laughed. "I really want to keep this up," she said, holding onto his arm, "I hope I'll see you soon. Perhaps we can meet for lunch again sometime next week."

"That sounds _delightful,"_ replied Maximus, "I'm certainly in."

He looked over at her with a smile, and was surprised to see a tear running down her cheek.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh...nothing..." said Zulia, "It's just...this last week, I've felt _so_ happy. And I just don't know what will happen to us. Because I don't want to be away from you...ever." She held his arm tightly.

Maximus hesitated. To be honest, he hadn't thought that far.

"We don't have to tell anybody yet," he said, taking her hand in his own, "Nothing will happen to us. I promise." He pressed his finger to Zulia's cheek, wiping away the tear.

"Thanks," she smiled.

For a moment, neither of them knew what they were doing, but their faces seemed to come closer, reducing the space between them, and before Maximus knew it, his lips were touching hers.

At his lips' touch, she blossomed like a flower. Nobody had ever kissed her like this before. And his mouth was so soft. It was magic, the way his lips connected with hers, like the last piece put into a jigsaw puzzle. His mouth was so warm, the caress of his lips softer than she could imagine. A deep feeling of warmth spread through Zulia's lips, all the aches and pains of heartbreak dissolved by this tender moment. A single tear of joy slid down her cheek and splashed onto his. Feeling this, the supervillain slid Zulia out of her seat, claiming it as his own as he set her down on top of him. She resumed the kiss, her lips begging to feel his again as they both came into a deep embrace. And that was when he knew it. As a supervillain, in the past Maximus had only wanted to destroy. But now he wanted to protect. He promised himself, right there, right then, that he was never going to let anything happen to her, not now, not ever. She was the one.

Maximus deepened the kiss and let his tongue graze her lips. She tasted sweet, like honey or maple syrup. A swimming bliss flooded through Zulia's body, and she subconsciously moved her hands to his shoulders, clutching the velvet collar of his robe tightly in her fingers. Never breaking the kiss, Maximus reached up and caressed her soft green cheek. His hand skimmed her long pointy ear, then fingered a lock of her beautiful white hair, twiddling it round his finger as his hand explored her fluffy locks. He felt a purr of ecstasy growing in his throat, and Zulia felt his lips quiver as he purred into her mouth.

"Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

It was a heady bliss, feeling the emotions in lips so full of love. They felt like they never wanted to be anywhere but here. Together.

They eventually let go, but didn't want to. Their lips parted and they resumed their positions in the seat.

"That was nice..." murmured Zulia, looking at him out of the corner of her eye and smiling shyly.

Maximus felt indescribably good. So that was what a kiss felt like. He had to say, he liked it. He just wished he could have experienced that the first time. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Their eyes met. Reaching over, he caressed Zulia's face in his hands, bringing her to his lips again. She surrendered.

...

"Admiral DeGill, I am pleased to report that Infantor and his milk-draining scheme have been thwarted," declared Betty, "Infantor has been arrested and we have returned all the lost water to its original places."

"Excellent work, Atomic Betty!" declared Admiral DeGill, "You've saved us again!"

"I couldn't have done it without Sparky," replied Betty, looking at her green co-pilot. Sparky folded his arms, chuffed.

"Ahem!" hmphed X-5.

"And X-5, too, of course," smiled Betty, "Now take me home, guys. If I don't get back soon I'll be late for my afterschool guitar practice."

"Aye, aye, chief!"

And with that, their starcruiser took off like a bullet and vanished into the stars.

...

A while later, Maximus returned Zulia to Neutropia. They parted, promising they would see each other again very soon, and Zulia stepped out of Maximus's spaceship onto Neutropia. She gave him a little wave, which he returned, and then watched as his spaceship rose up and vanished from Neutropia's atmosphere.

 _He is so dreamy,_ she thought, as she stepped in through her front door.

"Oh Sparky, dear!" she called, striding into the house, "Are you home?"

"Mamoolah!" exclaimed Sparky, happily, running down the stairs to hug her.

"Hi, honey," Zulia said, striding up to him and kissing him on the cheek, "How did it go?"

"Pretty crazy," Sparky replied, "So where did _you_ go? I've been home for ages. You never go out. Where were you?"

"Oh, nowhere important," Zulia said, dismissively. She quickly changed the subject. "So what happened to _you_ today? Anything exciting?"

"Infantor was up to his old tricks again," said Sparky, "He was using this lazer to..."

Zulia was only half listening. While Sparky talked on about Infantor and his milk-making scheme, her mind drifted to Maximus again. Her lips could still feel the kiss.

"Betty and X-5 woulda _died_ if I hadn't landed the ship safely," bragged Sparky, proudly.

"Well done, sweetie," Zulia said, fondly. She pinched his cheek.

"Aw, stop it, mom," said Sparky, embarrassedly, "What about you? How was your day?"

Zulia smiled, dreamily. "It was _perfect."_

...

Maximus's lips tingled from the kiss as he strode down his landing pad towards his front door. He pushed it open. With the velocity of a bullet, Minimus instantly shot to his side. "And how was your day out, master?" he asked, eagerly.

"Pleasing," replied Maximus, striding inside with Minimus hot on his heels.

"I tidied your chambers and dusted your ceramic ducks while you were gone!" said Minimus, with an obsequious smile on his face.

"How considerate," replied Maximus.

"And this time I didn't break any!" Minimus added, happily.

"Well done you." Maximus patted Minimus on the head. Minimus felt so happy, he almost screamed.

"Oh, thank you, master!" he squealed. He kept up the pace as Maximus strode through the corridors. "I also ordered Chef Bernadette to cook your favourite dinner," he said, cheerfully.

"You are being so thoughtful today," said Maximus, giving Minimus an appreciative look.

Minimus's face split into a grin so big that it didn't even fit on his face. But somehow he managed it, as he was feeling that happy. "Nothing but the best for you, master," Minimus said, obsequiously, then slightly extended his head, hoping that Maximus would pat him again. He was not disappointed.

Oh, how Minimus craved attention. All those years of being ignored, unappreciated and abused, Minimus was finally being given the praise he deserved. And even though this "Maximus being nice" period was probably only temporary, Minimus was determined to get the absolute most out of it.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **For those out there who are wondering if Maximus and Zulia get busted, then here's a spoiler for you. Tomorrow both Sparky and Minimus find a clue to Maximus and Zulia's secret. Read on!**


	15. Dates, Novels & Sticky Notes

**Chapter 15**  
 **Dates, Novels & Sticky Notes**

"Well," panted Atomic Betty, breathing at a quick pace as she lay battered to the bone against the back of her captain's seat, "You could certainly say this was quite an eventful morning!"

It had been another casual and quiet morning for Betty, Sparky and X-5. An army of Beluvian Zack Beasts had invaded the planet Bangoon, The Chameleon had been stealing Neutomic Crystals from Galactic Guardian Headquarters by posing as Admiral DeGill, and, to top it all off, Nuclea had been extinguishing stars and absorbing their energy. Man, had the Guardians gotten some _serious_ burns from her star-charged hair.

"Now I've gotta get back to school," said Betty, still panting, "Beam me back down."

"You got it, chief!" said Sparky, whose green skin was now almost entirely singed black due to Nuclea's energy. He pressed the button, and Betty was beamed back down to school.

 _I just hope this afternoon will be a little less fatal,_ she thought, as she walked into the canteen for lunch.

...

Minimus grabbed a handful of popcorn and crunched it up while watching the show. Delish. He watched the army of Suzastian Cougala Beasts rip apart the surrounding buildings on the 3-V, causing fires to break out and aliens to scream and run. Minimus yawned. It was _decent_ crime, he wasn't sure if he would call it exceptional. He ate another handful of popcorn. He shivered from the sweetness of it and suddenly felt a little thirsty.

Grabbing the remote, he paused the show and reluctantly got up from the settee to get some soda from the kitchen.

He pushed open the kitchen door and headed towards the fridge. Having grown accustomed to Maximus's more generous behaviour, Minimus figured that if Maximus could use the word _we_ in front of Minimus, then it would _definitely_ be OK for Minimus to just take some soda from the kitchen. Just as he grabbed a bottle of non-toxic Fizzy Maxx (Maximus had made a harmless version just for him and Minimus to drink) and closed the fridge, Minimus spotted something new on the fridge. It was a small piece of pink paper pinned to the fridge by a Max-Land fridge magnet. He unpinned the magnet and took a look at the note. It looked like a reminder. It said:

 _Sunday 12:30: Meet with Z._

 _Hmmmmm,_ thought Minimus, scrutinizing the note, _I wonder what that means._

...

"I'll be back by seven, Sparky, dear. I left some food in the fridge so you can make your own dinner in a few hours," Zulia told Sparky, as she put on her handbag and reached for the doorknob, "Are you _sure_ you don't want to come? Wouldn't it be nice to see your little sister perform?"

Sparky made a face. "Ugh!" he gagged, "There's absolutely _no way_ I'm going to some _stupid_ dance performance to see Heidi show off! No! No! NO!" He folded his arms and stuck out his chin.

It was Friday, the day of Heidi's ballet performance. It was almost three o'clock, and Zulia was going out to pick Heidi up from school and then take her to the performance. It was a _very_ big day for Heidi. She was playing the lead role, and Zulia had tried many times (in vain) to persuade Sparky to come and watch his little sister on stage. But that was an absolute no-no. There was no way in a million years that Sparky would be caught dead at such a cutesie-wootsie, prissy-kissy, girly-twirly event. _Especially_ if Heidi was in it. Ballet! What was the point of it? It was all just hopping around on your tiptoes and twirling all over the place. It was pointless! But then again, Sparky realized, if _Heidi_ liked it, then it was almost certain to be pointless.

"You're _sure?"_ pestered Zulia.

Sparky groaned! "Yes, mom, I'm sure!" he said, exasperatedly.

Then he played his trump card.

"I've been battling with Zack Beasts, shape-shifters and lunatic energy-draining supervillains _all morning,_ mom," he said, in a more pathetic voice, "Just _look_ at these burns I got from Nuclea! Don't you think I _need_ a relaxing afternoon?"

Zulia smiled. "Of course you do. I'll see you at seven, Sparky, dear."

She exited the house and closed the door behind her.

Sparky sighed in relief, then skipped upstairs to his room. He had been scared that his mamoolah would make him come. That would have been even more unpleasant than the agonising burns he had gotten from Nuclea's hair today.

To Zulia's delight, Sparky had been so tired from his incredibly hectic morning, he had decided to stay home and relax after lunch, spending some quality time with his mamoolah before she went out to Heidi's performance. He just hoped that nothing else would happen. If Sparky got one more mission after all that kerfuffle this morning, he would faint.

He strode over to his desk and grabbed a stack of paper, then sat down on his pile of beanbags with it. Hopefully he would have a nice, peaceful time. He grabbed some felt tip pens and spent a long, glorious half hour drawing page after page of cartoon strips. He was creating a very long comic book (call it a graphic novella, perhaps) called _Sparky & Crew._ It was about him and his two fellow Galactic Guardians saving the universe from evil. He occasionally made up his own supervillains, but most of the time he used supervillains from real life, like Maximus or Nuclea or Dr. Cerebral. Sparky was the main hero in his stories, of course. Betty and X-5 were just backup. In fact, Sparky had put in a lot of scenes where X-5 got painfully humiliated. He couldn't wait to see the look on the robot's face when Sparky showed it to him.

 _Ha!_ he thought, mischievously. He resharpened his pencil for the thousandth time, and took great care in drawing a terrified look on X-5's face.

Finishing the panel, he reached over for yet another piece of paper.

But it was all gone.

 _Craters!_ thought Sparky, _Did I just use up all that paper in half an hour? Yeesh!_

Reluctantly, Sparky shifted from his wonderfully relaxed position and plodded downstairs to get some more paper from his mamoolah's work room. He wasn't supposed to go in there normally, but this was an emergency! There were some _very_ important X-5 humiliation scenes to draw!

Sparky pushed open the door and took a look in his mamoolah's desk drawers. Fountain pens, notebooks, reminders, magazines, letters from Lola Polaris fans...but no paper. He spotted the wooden cupboard in the corner and took a look inside. No paper. He searched through the whole room, but there didn't seem to be any paper in there. Maybe he could go and snitch some from Heidi's room. Heidi was out dancing, so she would never know. But just as Sparky was heading for the exit, something on Zulia's desk caught his eye. It was a leather notebook, decorated with silver talismans and yellow ribbon. Sparky took a closer look at the front and gasped! It was the sequel to _One Thousand And One Romantic Nitros_ by Lola Polaris, who was, naturally, Sparky's favourite author! Sparky itched with curiosity. Zulia had kept it a secret for nearly two years, for she had wanted it to be a surprise for him when she finally published it. Sparky inched closer. His eyes darted left and right, just to make sure nobody was watching. He wasn't supposed to touch Zulia's office supplies, but Sparky had always been a nosy parker, and he couldn't bear not knowing what was written in his mamoolah's new book.

"One little peek," he said to himself, "Just one little peek inside. What harm could it do?"

And without further ado, he grabbed the book and opened it to the front page. But this was a big mistake. As Sparky's pure white eyes scanned the first page, they widened to the size of saucers. He rubbed them with his green hands, sure that he had made a mistake. But he hadn't. As he stared at the front page of his mamoolah's notebook, his jaw dropped as far as it could go.

It was the message that Zulia had written nine days ago on the front page of her notebook.

 _For Maximus I.Q., who I hope will love me again._

As fast as a bolt of lightning, Sparky snapped the book shut, then pressed a button on his Galactic Guardian communicator belt. "X-5!" he said into it, "You gotta come and get me! There's something I've gotta show the chief!"

...

Sweat ran down Dylan's brow as he approached.

Betty was talking to her two best friends about their comic book club. "—I've got this _killer_ idea for a new _Ruby Avenger,"_ she told them, excitedly, "It's about—"

"Hey...Betty?" a voice said from behind her. Betty turned round and flushed bright crimson.

"Hi, Dylan," she said, shyly.

"Can I...talk to you for a second?" he asked, "If that's OK with you two?" He looked at Noah and Paloma. They smiled and nodded.

"We'll give you two some privacy," smirked Noah, and he and Paloma walked away, leaving Betty and Dylan.

"So..." Dylan said, "I was wondering...are you free after school today?"

"Yes," said Betty, eagerly.

"So am I," Dylan said, "Do you wanna go on a..." he hesitated, "...date tonight?"

Betty's eyes widened. "I thought you'd _never_ ask!" she exclaimed, then, afraid she had come on too strong, held back, "I mean...yeah, I'd love that...what exactly did you have in mind?"

Dylan thought for a moment.

"Do you like sushi?" he asked, "Cause I know a _great_ sushi place at the mall."

"I _love_ sushi!" exclaimed Betty, "That sounds awesome. How's four thirty?"

"Works for me," said Dylan, smiling.

"OK," she said, with a smile, "See you then."

"See you then," replied Dylan, "Bye, Betty."

"Bye, Dylan."

They parted, and Betty walked back towards Noah and Paloma, with an excited grin on her face.

"Big plans, Betty?" asked Noah, with a smile.

"Nah, it was just Dylan," Betty said, failing to suppress a big grin, "OK, yes."

Her two best friends laughed. "Way to go, Betty," smiled Paloma.

Dylan walked round the corner—right past Penelope Lang, who had been peeping round and listening to their every word. She watched Dylan disappear down the hall, and her fingernails dug into the skin of her palms as she clenched her fists in fury!

 _He asked her on a DATE!?_ Penelope screamed in her head, _WHAT!?_

Furiously, Penelope shoved her hand in her pocket and dug out her very expensive phone.

"Dad," she spoke into it, "Cancel our dinner trip to Paris tonight. _I'm_ going out for sushi!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I guess that's a spoiler for you. It looks like Penelope isn't going to give up yet.**


	16. The Extremely One-Sided Love Triangle

**Chapter 16**  
 **The Extremely One-Sided Love Triangle**

Betty picked up an petite piece of sushi with her chopsticks, and popped it into her mouth.

"Mmmmmmm," she mumbled, contentedly, "This is delicious!"

"I love this place," said Dylan, putting a piece of cucumber sushi into his mouth and looking round at the Japanese decorations, "It does the best sushi."

"Tell me about it," said Betty, looking hungrily at the display of exquisite Makis, Sashimis, Nigiris and Temakis spread out on their many plates. It was hard to believe that all that art was nothing more than a bunch of rice, vegetables and raw fish, just arranged in a different way for each one. They were extremely colourful, and each one was unique. They were so pretty, it was almost a shame to eat them.

"I totally recommend you try the Sake no Hana," said Betty, pointing with her chopsticks at the pieces of salmon, rice and flying fish roe on her plate, "It's the best." She offered him one.

Dylan smiled and shook his head. "That's nice of you, but no thanks," he said, "I'm a—"

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're vegetarian, aren't you," said Betty, "My mistake. Oh well, all the more for me." She popped one in her mouth.

"Have you tried the soup?" asked Dylan, pointing to the two bowls of Miso soup by the plate of sushi, "It's killer."

Betty dipped a piece of Ebi in the soup and popped it into her mouth. "Delish. Thanks so much for asking me out," she said, swallowing, "This is really fun. Just you...and me...together...no one else to bother us..."

As she said those words, Dylan's striking blue eyes met with her bright green ones. They both leaned forward towards each other. Slowly, the space between Betty and Dylan's lips got smaller and smaller, until...

 _"Betty!?"_ exclaimed a high-pitched drawl, _"_ _Dylan!?"_

Betty and Dylan opened their eyes and looked over, and their happy smiles instantly vanished.

"Oh, what a _surprise,_ seeing you two here!" exclaimed Penelope Lang, sidling up to their table, "Gosh, I had _no_ idea what a _small_ world this is!"

" _Great_ timing, Penelope," scowled Betty.

Penelope chuckled. "Oh, isn't it just _so_ odd when I'm just going to a restaurant by myself and happen to bump into two of my _closest_ friends!" she exclaimed. She shoved her elbow onto their table, cluttering up the cutlery. "It's _so—"_

"Excuse me, Penelope!" snapped Betty, angrily, "We're kind of in the middle of something here! Would you be so kind as to leave us alone!? Just for once in your life!"

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Betty gasped as her bracelet began to vibrate!

 _Another_ mission? Not _again!_ This morning had been hectic enough!

"Oh no! I've...um...gotta go to the bathroom!" exclaimed Betty, "Be back in a minute!" Then, quick as a whip, she shot out of sight.

"Awwwww," Penelope said, in a pitying voice, "Poor Dylan. Betty's dropped out on you _again."_

"No," said Dylan, tightly, "She's just going to the bathroom."

"Aww, but she might take a while. No need to worry," said Penelope, promptly sliding into Betty's vacant seat, " _I'll_ keep you company." She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Dylan scowled and looked away. He knew perfectly well what Penelope was up to. Ever since Dylan had come to this school, Penelope had been desperate to have him to herself. Of course, this was never going to happen. Penelope was a snob and a prima donna. And he knew perfectly well how she treated Betty. Sometimes Dylan wished he could just tell Penelope to buzz off and leave him and Betty alone, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, because that would seem mean. He was sick of her, but he still remained good-natured towards her. He didn't want to feel like a nasty person. Even so, he still wished she would leave him be.

"That sushi looks _d_ _elish,"_ mused Penelope, with great emphasis, "Mind if I...take a bite?" She reached for one of Betty's Temaki rolls.

"Yes," said Dylan, firmly, "I do. Those are Betty's, Penelope, they're not just free samples for you to take."

"Awwwww, just one piece," drawled Penelope, popping it in her mouth, "I'm _sure_ Betty won't mind." She cast a glance at Dylan as she chewed. "Mmmmm, delicious! I just _love_ vegetarian sushi! You and I really do have _so_ much in common, don't we, Dylan?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him again.

Dylan folded his arms crossly and looked away from her.

Betty swerved down the corridor and into the girls' bathroom. Thankfully, it was empty. She pressed a button on her beeping bracelet. "Atomic Betty reporting for—"

"Chief!" exclaimed Sparky, appearing in the projection, "You've gotta get up here! There's something I think you need to see!"

Betty's eyes darted left and right, making sure she was alone. "OK, beam me up!"

A beam of light shot through the ceiling, transporting Betty up into the starcruiser. There was a flash of light, and Atomic Betty appeared in the teleporter, dressed in her Galactic Guardian suit. She stepped out onto the floor of her starcruiser. "What's the trouble," Betty asked Sparky.

"About half an hour ago I was looking through my mamoolah's desk," said Sparky, "And—"

"Being _nosy,_ you mean?" said X-5.

"Shut up!" snapped Sparky, punching X-5 on the head. He turned back to Betty. "I found _this_ on her desk and wanted to read it," he held out his mamoolah's unfinished _Whispering Moons & Star-Crossed Lovers,_ "And look what was written on the front page!" he exclaimed, in a frightened voice. He opened the book to the first page and jabbed his finger at the message that was written on it.

Betty scanned the message and her eyes widened! "'For Maximus I.Q., who I hope will...love me again!?'" she exclaimed in shock! She grabbed the book from Sparky's hands and stared at the message, making sure she hadn't read it wrong. She hadn't. The words were there, clear as crystal.

"What the—?"

"I mean, I just don't get it! Why would my mom write a dedication to _Maximus!?"_ exclaimed Sparky, in a panicked voice! Then a thought popped into his head, and his face became struck with horror! "Does this mean Maximus and my mom are dating again!?"

"I cannot say. The odds of that occurring are one in fourteen trillion, six billion and forty-four," said X-5, "What do you think, chief?"

"Well...we all know Zulia has a bit of a bad habit with dating," said Betty, uncertainly, "But why in the cosmos would she want Maximus to love her? She didn't know that her boyfriends were criminals when she dated them. It was just dumb luck. She _knows_ Maximus is evil." She looked directly at Sparky. "Sparky, when did your mom write this?" she asked.

Sparky shrugged. "I don't know," he confessed, "I only noticed it an hour ago. Wait!" he exclaimed, "Give that here!" He grabbed the book from Betty and turned to the first chapter. Sparky knew his mamoolah always wrote the date at the top of her work, and sure enough...

"From the date on the first chapter..." he peered at the date in the corner "...About two years ago. Huh? About two years ago?"

"About two years ago?" repeated Betty.

Then it hit her. Her worried expression relaxed, and she gave a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh, I get it," said Betty, smiling, "Your mom wrote this when she dated Maximus before. That was about two years ago, too."

The worried looks on Sparky and X-5's faces turned to sighs of relief.

"Phew!" said Sparky, with a slight grin, "I was worried there for a moment!"

Betty smiled and handed Zulia's book back to Sparky.

What the three friends didn't know was that Zulia had not dedicated the book the day she had started writing it. She had dedicated it very recently, for a special someone whom she loved.

"That's good," Betty said, with relief, "Now zap me back down. I've got Penelope Lang to deal with."

"Aye aye, chief!" Sparky declared, and with a flick of a button, Betty was beamed back down into the mall.

"Penelope, you don't have to keep me company," said Dylan, in a slightly irritated tone, "I'm here with Betty. She'll be back before you know it."

 _And then maybe we can have a peaceful Penelope-free time for once!_ he added silently in his head.

"Oh, but you know Betty," said Penelope, playfully, "Once she runs off, there's no _telling_ when she'll come back!"

"Hey, Dylan! Sorry I had to rush off like that," said Betty, cheerfully, striding up to their table, "But nature has its call!"

Penelope whipped round in astonishment. What was going on!? Everyone knew that when Betty's bracelet beeped, she went missing for ages! The perfect opportunity for Penelope to win Dylan over!

"W-what!?" she exclaimed, "You're _back!?_ How'd you come back so quickly!?"

Betty tried to look like Penelope was being silly. "I only went to the _bathroom,_ Penelope," she said, casually, feeling exceptionally glad that it had only been a false alarm. Then her smile dropped. "And that's my seat," Betty said, firmly, "And this is _my_ date! Not yours! Now _move!"_

Penelope ground her teeth, but had to get up. Betty sat down and watched Penelope eye her with loathing.

"And this is a date, Penelope, not a class reunion!" said Betty, "Between me and Dylan! So get lost!"

Penelope shot a look of pure venom at the couple sitting at the table, then stomped off through the sushi restaurant. _I'll get that Betty yet!_ she fumed.

Betty turned back to Dylan and picked up her chopsticks. "Where were we?" she smiled.

Dylan shrugged. "Kissing?"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Some day Penelope's having, huh?**


	17. Best Frenemies

**Chapter 17**  
 **Best Frenemies**

"...And then all of Nuclea's energy got sucked out of her and she shrivelled up like a tiny little prune!" finished Sparky, popping an Ollie on the skateboarding ramp.

"That sounds exciting, I guess," said Minimus, who was skating on the other side of the ramp.

"Exciting!?" exclaimed Sparky, "It was _deadly!_ You should've seen it!" He took a jump and the board spun round under his feet.

Sparky and Minimus were an odd pair. They were what a person would normally call "Frenemies". They naturally loathed each other, as a hero and a villain, yet they also sort of liked each other, too. They had a certain friendship, despite their rivalry, and occasionally they would hang out as "cool kids", skateboarding, rapping, breakdancing, among other things. Of course, they bickered a great deal, too.

"Anyway, what about you?" Sparky said, dismissively, "Anything going on in _your_ sad, miserable life?"

"Actually," said Minimus, triumphantly, "My life is _not_ sad and miserable anymore!"

"Really?" said Sparky, sarcastically, "How come? Did Cat Boy raise your salary from two cronkets to two and a half? Ooooh!"

"Master's been in _such_ a good mood lately," Minimus replied, "He hasn't hit me on the head once and even started being nice to me."

"Nice?" exclaimed Sparky, "Cat Boy? Are you serious?"

Minimus nodded. "He got me ice cream and even let me _relax."_

He said the word _relax_ the way some people might say the word _ghost._

"In fact, he even used the word _we_ instead of _I,"_ Minimus said, "He _never_ says _we_."

"Wow!" exclaimed Sparky, "That's crazy! In fact, I'm not even sure if I believe you."

"I honestly can't believe it myself," Minimus said, happily, "It's just not like him." His head swivelled round with a click.

"Not like him at _all!"_ he snapped.

Click!

"Maybe he's finally decided to embrace his good side."

Click!

"Hmph! Like he _has_ one!"

Click!

"I mean, it's totally great, but it's just so _weird,"_ his good head remarked, "Why would he start being nice all of a sudden? To me, of all people."

"Maybe he got hit on the head?" suggested Sparky, "That made him turn nicer last time."

Minimus shuddered as he remembered that time when Maximus had gotten concussed and started acting all nice and giggly. Granted it had been nice to not be abused, but Maximus's nutty behaviour had really got on Minimus's nerves. Chasing after butterflies, moonwalking, hairdressing his Blood Monks, dancing with cheerleader pompoms, and, above all, mollycoddling all over Minimus.

The horror.

Minimus shook his head. "No," he said, thankfully, "He hasn't been hit. And he wasn't being crazy like last time, either."

 _Thank goodness!_ he thought, in fright. To be honest, Minimus preferred being abused by Maximus rather than mollycoddled like that. It was just awful. He liked attention, but not like that. It was absolutely...absolutely...LOVELY! Brrrrrrr! Minimus shivered!

"It keeps making me wonder, though," he mused, "I mean, it's not like master would just suddenly start being nice for no reason."

"Just relax, buddy," chirped Sparky, skating down from the side of the ramp, "Who cares about any of that? Just make the most of it, you sack of negativity. It's great being pampered. Could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a miserable old minion like you."

"I know that," said Minimus, "Never mind. You wouldn't understand anyway."

"Aw, come on, Minimus, I'm your _friend!"_ exclaimed Sparky, "And as your friend, I've gotta be honest, I've never understood you not one little bit."

Minimus rolled his eyes and did a triple heelflip down to the bottom of the ramp.

"See if you can beat that move, green boy!" his evil head sniggered.

Knowing he couldn't, Sparky shook his head. "Nah. I'm sick of skateboarding," Sparky said, "Let's go get some caramel slugworms."

"Last one to the shop has to buy!" grinned Minimus's evil head.

"You're on!"

They both skated at breakneck speed away from the ramp. At first, Sparky seemed to get the lead, before Minimus bowled a stone into his skateboard's wheel and sent him catapulting to the ground. Minimus reached the shop first.

"I win, _loser!"_ sniggered Minimus's evil head.

Sparky pushed himself up and scowled. "I would've won if you'd played fair, you dirty sidekick!"

"Fair, schmair," smirked Minimus, "You just can't take the shame,"

"HI-YA!" screamed Sparky, pouncing on Minimus. They wrestled all over the ground with a series of punches, kicks and scratches, before Sparky threw Minimus to the ground and pinned his arms behind his back.

"Owwwwww!" moaned Minimus.

"Who's the loser now?" smirked Sparky.

"Me," said Minimus, cringing, "Now let me up."

Sparky unpinned him and he stood back up. His head swivelled round. "You still have to buy the slugworms, _loser!"_

His head swivelled back round. "Oh, actually, that's OK," he said, hurriedly, "I've got a few cronkets."

Sparky smirked at him and strode into the snack shop in a very conceited manner. Minimus's evil head growled, but followed him in. They both strode out a few minutes later, sharing a bag of extra-sticky caramel-coated slugworms. And when I say "sharing", I mean Sparky ate most of them.

"I didn't hear a thank you," said Minimus, scowling, "Is it all just 'Minimus P.U., only there to pay for his best friend's food while he starves'? At least _master's_ starting to appreciate me."

"Wait," said Sparky, suddenly. He turned round at looked at Minimus. "You're saying _that's_ your full title!?" he laughed, "Minimus _P.U.!?"_ Sparky burst out laughing! "I reckon you should take a bath!"

Minimus scowled. "It's not _that_ kind of P.U. It stands for Portable Underling," he said, which only made Sparky laugh harder.

Minimus folded his arms and sulked. "It's just a title," he said, sourly.

Sparky wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "You know what, Minimus? I'm really glad you're my friend," he smirked, "With you around, who needs a joke book?"

"Hmph!" Minimus rolled his eyes, and they carried on walking. Eventually, Sparky's house appeared at the end of the path, and they headed towards it.

"I just hope my mamoolah's got something good for lunch," remarked Sparky, as they strode down the walk towards his house, "I'm famished!"

"You just ate an entire bag of caramel slugworms," said Minimus, tonelessly.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Sparky, "How can I be expected to survive on such a microscopic snack!?"

Minimus rolled his eyes. "Neutropians!"

Sparky pushed open the door and they both headed inside.

"Nice pad," said Minimus, looking around Sparky's house. His head swivelled round. "For a dumb galactic do-gooder!" he chuckled, nastily.

Sparky's eyes narrowed. "Alright, buddy, do you want your teeth to stay inside your mouth, or out!?" he spat, aiming his fist at Minimus. Minimus's head swivelled back to "good" and he stepped back, nervously. He shook his head, making several clicking noises.

Sparky gave a satisfied smirk, then turned round.

"Mom!" he hollered, "I'm back! What's for lunch!?"

There was no answer.

"Huh," he said, thoughtfully, "That's weird. I woulda thought she'd be preparing wormburgers."

Minimus's eyes snapped open. "Wormburgers?" he exclaimed, "Ooh! De-lish!"

They both plodded into the kitchen.

"Mom?" called Sparky. There was no answer.

"Hey look, what's that?" Minimus pointed to a handwritten note left on the kitchen table.

Sparky picked it up.

 _My darling Sparky,_ the note said, _I've gone out for a few hours. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, and make sure you keep an eye on your little sister until I get back._

 _Love, Mom xxx_

Sparky groaned! "Great! Now I have to look after Heidi!" Then he noticed something else about the note. "Wait! She said I can help myself to anything in the fridge!" he cheered, "YE-E-ES!" Without further notice, he scooted over to the fridge, flung it open and grabbed a box of banana-and-tadpole fritters.

"Do you ever do anything besides eat?" snapped Minimus's evil head.

"Yes," mumbled Sparky, his mouth full of pastry and tadpoles, "Once in a while." He swallowed a mouthful, then grabbed a pack of Neutropian doughnuts and waved one over to Minimus.

"You hungry, P.U.?" he teased.

Minimus fidgeted a little. Neutropian doughnuts were delicious. Finally, he sacrificed his pride and grabbed one. They munched the doughnuts quite obnoxiously.

"Mmmmm! These are de-lish!" exclaimed Minimus. He reached out for another one, but Sparky slapped his hand. "Ow!"

"Stop being so _greedy,_ Minimus!" Sparky chided, before grabbing three more doughnuts and shoving them into his mouth at once.

Minimus's head swivelled round. "Yeah, _I'm_ the greedy one!" he growled.

Sparky elbowed him, then put the almost completely eaten box of doughnuts back in the fridge. But just as he closed the door, he noticed a pink sticky note on the front.

"Hey," exclaimed Sparky, "What's this?" He plucked the sticky note off of the fridge and looked at it.

It said:

 _Sunday: Meet M at 12:30._

Sparky's head tilted. It looked like a reminder for Zulia. But what did it M stand for?

Minimus peeked over. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "That looks like..." he started, then shook his head, "No, never mind..." he said, dismissively.

"No, what?"

"Well...your mom's called Zulia, isn't she?" queried Minimus, "With a Z?"

"Yeah," answered Sparky, "Why?"

Butterflies fluttered in Minimus's stomach. "Because...well...I found a reminder on master's fridge," he said, nervously, "And it said _this_ on it."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the sticky note he had found on Maximus's fridge and showed it to Sparky.

Sparky's eyes widened. He looked at the two reminders in his hands. They were identical; today, the same day at the same time, with M on Zulia's and Z on Maximus's.

"You say this was on Cat Boy's fridge?" he said, nervously.

Minimus nodded.

Sparky looked back at the notes. An M and a Z? Could they...no, that was impossible...

Could the M and Z stand for Maximus and Zulia?

"Minimus..." he said, uneasily, "When did you say Cat Boy started acting a little different?"

"About a few weeks ago," said Minimus, nervously.

Sparky put two and two together.

"I'd better call Betty!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Looks like they're onto something!**

 **By the way, that part when Minimus and Sparky are skateboarding was inspired by the _Sparky VS Minimus_ and _Sparky & Minimus: Moosejaw Undercover_ ending sketches from _Mission: Earth._ The ending sketches were terrible, but I did like the idea of Sparky and Minimus being frenemies. Although in this story they hang out on Neutropia, not Earth.**


	18. They're On Your Tail

**Chapter 18**  
 **They're On Your Tail**

Sparky and X-5 watched as Betty beamed up into the starcruiser. "So what're we up against this time, boys?" she asked, stepping out of the teleporter, before gasping in horror! "What is _Minimus_ doing here!?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing with hatred as they fixed upon the small two-faced creature.

Minimus cried out in horror! "AAAAAAH! Atomic Betty!" he exclaimed, jumping back and falling over. He looked directly at Sparky. "You didn't say we were seeing Atomic Betty! Oh...if master found out..."

"Never mind," cut in Betty. She looked at Sparky, "What's he doing here?" She jabbed her finger at Minimus.

"He's just here with me," Sparky said, "We're friends, we were hanging out."

Betty pursed her lips. "Well, I'm not normally one to associate with villains..." she said, uncertainly, "But then again, if you're Sparky's friend, I suppose that makes you my friend."

"Well not _friend,_ exactly," she added, hastily, "So what's up? Why did you call me?"

"Well, we were skateboarding—" started Sparky.  
"—And eating caramel slugworms—" added Minimus.  
"—And went back to my house—"  
"—Sparky's mom was out—"  
"—We talked about stuff—"  
"—Master's been acting really different lately, pampering me a lot and being nicer—"  
"—And my mamoolah's been acting kinda different lately, too, all dreamy and away—"  
"—On the other day when master was out—"  
"—And today my mom was out—"

"And we found THESE on their fridges!" they both exclaimed in unison, and held out the sticky notes they had found on Maximus and Zulia's fridges.

Betty took the notes in her hands and peered at them. Her eyes widened. An M and a Z?

"You say these were on Maximus and Zulia's fridges?" she said, worriedly.

Sparky and Minimus nodded.

"And you say _both_ Maximus and Zulia have started acting a little different lately?" she said.

They nodded again.

Worry flooded into Betty as she stared at the notes.

"You don't think...?" she said, uneasily.

The boys glanced at each other. There was no doubt what Betty had been about to say.

"No," Sparky said, shaking his head, "That's crazy. My mamoolah would never start seeing Maximus again. I mean, what are the odds?"

"Fourteen trillion, six billion and forty-three to one," X-5 reported, tonelessly.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Sparky.

"But what about that dedication to Maximus she wrote in her book?" asked Betty, remembering.

"She wrote that two years ago," insisted Sparky, "There's no way. She's smart enough to stay away from a jerk like Cat Boy! Oh, er, no offence," he added, quickly, as Minimus scowled at him.

"Well what about those?" pressed X-5, pointing to the sticky notes Sparky and Minimus had found on Maximus and Zulia's fridges.

Sparky's eyes darted left and right. "Those things could just be coincidence," he said, nervously, "I mean, loads of people use sticky notes on fridges."

"Does it not seem a little odd that they have each others' initials on?" asked Betty, "And we all know your mom _does_ have a bit of a record with dating supervillains."

"Well...there are loads of words beginning with M and Z," said Sparky, uncertainly, "And my mamoolah's definitely gotta be over Cat Boy by now."

Betty, Minimus and X-5 looked at him, not fooled.

"I mean, come on, you guys!" Sparky said, "Let's just think about the logic! Would mom _really_ want to see someone who threatened her with a death ray? And would Cat Boy _really_ want to see someone who beat him up with her handbag? I mean, it's not exactly likely, is it?"

Betty considered. Sparky did have a bit of a point there. They had all witnessed that violent battle with Maximus's death ray and Zulia's kitchen utensils. Was there really any possibility that Zulia and Maximus could still like each other after all that?

"I agree," said Betty, "I don't see any reason why Maximus and Zulia would still want to be with each other, but—"

"He did say he wished she had kissed him," said Minimus, suddenly, remembering from about two years ago.

The other three stared at him in horror! "WHAT!?"

"A few days after they broke up," said Minimus, with a slightly mischievous grin, "He said that even though he left her, he still wished she had kissed him."

Three faces contorted with disgust, even Betty's. "Ugh!" she gagged, "That is so gross!"

"Meh." Minimus shrugged and plodded over to X-5's star charts. "Ooh," he exclaimed, "Those look interesting. Mind if I take a look?" He reached out a hand.

"Hold it right there, Minimus!" said Betty, sternly, slicing a hand in front of him, "You're not going anywhere near those star charts." Then she was struck with a sudden thought. She eyed the yellow minion suspiciously. "This wasn't just some made-up story of yours so you could get into the Guardians' starcruiser, was it?" she demanded.

Minimus took a step back and shook his head in fright. "No!" he exclaimed, frantically.

Betty's eyebrows raised with suspicion. "How do I know you're not lying?"

"I suppose he _is_ two-faced," said X-5.

That made everyone laugh, even Minimus.

...

Betty turned through _Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers_ until she got to the page with the dedication on. The ink looked fresh, like it had been written only a few weeks ago.

"Sparky," said Betty, worriedly, "I didn't notice this before, but this message doesn't look two years old to me."

Betty, Sparky, X-5 and Minimus had gone back to Sparky's house to get a closer look at Zulia's dedication, and Betty had noticed something she hadn't noticed when she had first looked at it.

Betty turned the page and took a look at the first chapter. "I mean, look at this," she pointed to the writing on the first chapter. "The ink here is dry and old."

Then she turned to the page near the back, where Zulia was still writing the story. "But looky here," she said, pointing, "The ink on _these_ pages looks much more recent. And so does the message at the front." She turned back to the front, where Zulia's dedication to Maximus was written.

Sparky, X-5 and Minimus all looked at each other. She was right.

Betty was just about to say that the message didn't look older than the last few weeks, when she felt a tap on her back.

"Hi there!" chirped a voice.

"Aah!" exclaimed Betty and X-5, jumping round. A small Neutropian was standing there with a curious look on her face. She looked exactly like a younger version of Zulia, with the same fluffy white hair, the same long eyelashes, the same everything.

"Who's this?" Betty questioned Sparky.

"That's my little sister Heidi," said Sparky, eyeing Heidi with a look of loathing, "Heidi, this is X-5 and Atomic Betty."

"Atomic Betty!? _The_ Atomic Betty!?" exclaimed Heidi, clapping her hands to her face!

"Yes," said Betty, with a smile, " _The_ Atomic Betty."

"Wow!" exclaimed Heidi, wringing her hands, "Atomic Betty is really in my kitchen! I've got _all_ your posters and action figures!" The she gasped! "Is it true you've battled with werewolves and ghost pirates!?"

Betty blushed. "I suppose so," she said, modestly.

"Awesome!" cried Heidi. She seized Betty's hand and shook it enthusiastically.

"And you must be X-5," Heidi guessed, moving onto the robot and shaking his hand, "The robot Sparky says is just a big-mouthed know-it-all who doesn't know when to shut up?"

X-5 shot a look of venom at Sparky.

"You are such a blabbermouth!" shouted Sparky! He leaped at Heidi, but X-5 grabbed the back of his spacesuit, stopping him. Heidi giggled.

Sparky stopped struggling and X-5 dropped him. "You know, Heidi," he said, looking at his little sister, " _I_ battled the werewolves and ghost pirates too."

"You mean when you put on that wedding dress and fooled the ghost into thinking you were his long-lost wife?" said X-5, loving every moment of this.

Heidi stared at Sparky. "You put on a _dress!?"_ she squealed, before doubling up and howling with laughter!

Betty, X-5 and Minimus all laughed.

"Well she seems cute," said Betty, smiling at Heidi.

"Huh!" muttered Sparky, "You don't know her."

"Anyway, let's get back to the case," said Betty, turning back round, "What are the odds that Maximus and Zulia would want to be together? I mean...I don't see how or why it could happen," she admitted, "But there's still the matter of the reminders and dedication."

"It _could_ happen," said Minimus, "I tell you, he was heartbroken at her wedding."

"Cat Boy is a devil," said Sparky, flatly, "He doesn't _have_ a heart to break."

"Yeah. And you would know that because you've been his sidekick for twenty-nine years, correct?" said Minimus, sarcastically.

Sensing an argument about to break out, Betty quickly spoke. "I think you _both_ have a point," she said, "But personally, I'm a little suspicious. What do you think?"

"Don't be...silly," said Sparky, trying to feign sureness, "How stupid do you think she'd have to be to date the same supervillain _twice?"_

Betty looked at him with unease. They all knew about Zulia's bad habit of dating criminals. But then again, she had become fully aware of Maximus's supervillainy after he had tried to obliterate her, and again when he had shrunk the No-L 9, so was it that likely that he would still be on the top of her boyfriends list?

"No..." she agreed, uncertainly, "It...couldn't be."

"Are you sure?" asked X-5.

Betty sighed. "No," she admitted, "Not in the slightest. Sparky, did your mom go out for this long anytime else recently?"

Sparky thought. "Yeah," he said, after a few moments, "She went out for quite a while last Thursday, too. About eleven thirty."

"That's when master went out," said Minimus, suddenly.

That piece of information hit Betty like a sledgehammer to a rock. She whipped round and her eyes fixed on Minimus.

"Really?" exclaimed Betty, with a look of alarm on her face.

Minimus nodded, making a few clicking sounds with his head.

Betty glanced at Sparky and X-5, worriedly.

"I think we should investigate," said Betty, "Something weird is _definitely_ going on, and I'm sure Maximus and Zulia have something to do with it."

Sparky, X-5 and Minimus all agreed. "Heidi, I'll be back in a few hours," said Sparky to his little sister, "Just be good and watch TV or something."

"No way!" snapped Heidi, "I'm coming too! She's my mamoolah just as much as yours, _Sparky!"_

"Absolutely not," Sparky snapped, "You're far too young."

Heidi pouted. "How come you get to do all the cool stuff while I'm stuck at home!?" she complained.

"Because I'm a Galactic Guardian, _kiddo!"_ snapped Sparky, angrily, "You're a nine-year-old! Now behave yourself until I'm back, will you?"

"Sparky, if she wants to come, then let her come," Betty said, "It's not like we're doing anything dangerous."

"But, chief, she's such a _pain!"_ Sparky whispered, exasperatedly.

Heidi put her hands on her hips. Then an evil grin crawled onto her face. "I'll tell mom that you were the one who ate her secret supply of Budonkian pig snouts."

"Welcome aboard, Heidi," Sparky said, automatically.

...

"Ooh, wow, this is cool, I love your spaceship!" mused Heidi, when the five were back in Betty's starcruiser, "I'm _so_ gonna have one of these when I'm older!"

"Yeah, well, unfortunately, these starcruisers are reserved for Galactic Guardian use only," said Sparky, smugly.

"Well then I should be a Galactic Guardian, too!" insisted Heidi.

"Sorry, sis," retorted Sparky, "But you have to graduate from Galactic Guardian Academy first!"

"Well I could do that!" shot back Heidi, "I bet I'd be a WAY more cooler Galactic Guardian than _you,_ Sparky!"

Sparky put his hands on his hips. "Really?" he said, sarcastically, "Can you drive a starcruiser? Can you ride a space scooter? Can you punch? Can you kick? Can you nun-chuck? Can you read galactic coordinates? Can you use one of these?" He indicated the jetpack that was strapped to his back.

Heidi blinked. "Um...no," she said, uncertainly, "But I can ballet dance! Look!" She did a few pitter-pats, pirouettes and pliés around the starcruiser, which made Betty, X-5 and Minimus all laugh. Sparky, however, didn't look so impressed.

"Not bad for my little sister," he said, sarcastically.

Heidi scowled, then rolled up her sleeves, and with a loud SMACK, Sparky smashed into the wall of the starcruiser! Heidi brushed her hands off and shot a smug glance at Sparky.

"I think I'm really beginning to like this Heidi," mused X-5, looking over at Sparky with amusement.

"Oh, shut it, machine-head," Sparky said, irritably, rubbing the bruise on his chest where Heidi had punched him, "So what do we do now, chief?"

"I think we should find your mom," decided Betty, "Perhaps if we find one, we'll find the other. Then maybe we'll get some answers. Sparky, do you remember that tracking device we hid in her necklace the last time she got kidnapped?"

Sparky's face lit up and he jumped into his drivers seat. "Yes I do! Leave _this_ to me!" he said, with a grin. He fiddled with the spaceship's controls, and a few minutes later, an image popped up on the screen.

"I've got her!" he exclaimed, "The galactic plaza in the fourth section of the Ziraquian Nebula!" His expression changed to that of confusion. "What in the cosmos would she be doing out there?"

"You don't think she really is with Maximus, do you?" asked Betty, worriedly.

A look of uncertainty crawled onto Sparky's face. "I don't know," he said, uneasily, "I guess we'll find out. Let's go!"

He yanked a lever, and their starcruiser shot up into the sky and out of Neutropia's atmosphere.

"That was _such_ a good idea of mine to hide that tracking device in her necklace," mused Sparky, as he plotted coordinates for the Ziraquian Nebula, "I can't _believe_ how smart I am."

"I don't know what we'd do without you, Sparky," said Betty, smiling.

Heidi smirked. "Not bad for my big brother," she said, sarcastically. She shot a smug glance at Sparky.

Now they were even.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Heidi's personality was mainly based on my little sister Juliet: annoying, smart aleck and an intolerable finger-pointer. It also happens that my sister does ballet lessons, too, just like Zulia says Sparky's sister does in _The X-Rays._ What a coincidence, huh?**


	19. Pyjamas

**Chapter 19**  
 **Pyjamas**

"...And then _all_ the inhabitants _begged_ me for mercy, mwahahahaha," Maximus said, devilishly, "And it was only a matter of time before the entire planet fell helplessly under my control." He rubbed his hands together...well...evilly.

"Ooh, that sounds _so_ exciting!" exclaimed Zulia, who was sitting on the other side of their table.

They had come to a fancy (and intolerably expensive) place to eat and spend a little time together. It was only supposed to be a quick meet-up to see each other, rather than a proper time out, but now they had gotten so lost in conversation they had been there for nearly two hours. Zulia just couldn't help herself. Maximus was always such fun to talk to.

"Being a Supreme Evil Overlord such as myself _does_ have its many perks," Maximus said, with a flirtatious grin. "Oh, but enough about me," he said, dismissively, "Tell me something about you."

Zulia laughed. "Well, now, let's see..." she searched her mind for any exciting adventures she had had in the past. "Ooh, I know!" she exclaimed, "There was a time a few months ago when I was kidnapped by a supervillain called The Scribe."

"That sounds exciting."

"Oh yes!" Zulia said, enthusiastically, "The Scribe was jealous of how my novels competed with his, and wanted to trap me in his special book so he would have no more competition."

"You write?"

"Oh yes," Zulia replied, "Have you ever heard of _One Thousand And One Romantic Nitros_ by Lola Polaris?"

"No," Maximus answered, "Reading isn't to my particular penchant."

"It's a bestselling romance novel," Zulia carried on, "By me, Zulia, also called Lola Polaris. That's my pen name. I'm currently writing a sequel. It should be finished soon."

She didn't tell him that she had dedicated the book to him. She wanted that to be a surprise.

"The Scribe tied me up and took me to Glacies," Zulia carried on, "But I was rescued by Sparky and also a Lola Polaris fan called Iciclia."

"Iciclia?" repeated Maximus, "Not the ice queen of Glacies?"

Zulia nodded. "You know her?"

"Not personally," Maximus said, "But I have seen her before. She stole my Federation of Supervillainy Award for a freeze ray she created, and for some reason, everybody decided they liked that more than my fiendish weapon of mass destruction."

"How annoying," Zulia said, sympathetically.

"Exactly!" said Maximus, crossly, "All the hard work and evil ingenuity I put into my evil schemes, and I never get the respect I deserve!"

His lip quivered. "It _hurts_ me." He put his hand on his heart, dramatically.

"There, there," Zulia patted him on the hand, comfortingly.

Maximus looked away, a little embarrassedly. Then that devilish smile crawled onto his face again. "Now let me tell you about the time when I planned the heist of the dreaded Golden Yolk."

Zulia laughed. "Oh, Maxy, you're so exciting!"

...

The Galactic Guardians' starcruiser landed in the parking lot, and the three Guardians, the supervillain's minion and the little sister stepped out and looked around. There were a few dozen spaceships dotted around the parking lot, in all manner of shapes and sizes. One was shaped like a pyramid with little pink stars dotted all over it, one was long, thin and orange with six circular thrusters underneath and a window at the top, one was bright green with an assortment of gadgets installed around it, one was lilac and perfectly round with long conical spikes sticking out of every angle...

And at the end was a rectangular blue spaceship with a white stripe down the middle. It had two blue thrusters on the sides and a glass dome for looking out of.

"Hey," Minimus said, looking at the blue spaceship, "Master's got a ship like that."

Betty's eyes widened. "Really?" she said, worriedly.

Minimus nodded.

Betty's stomach churned. Maybe it _was_ Maximus's ship. Things were beginning to add up, and Betty didn't like what they were adding up to.

"OK, let's split up and scope this place," ordered Betty, "Sparky, you go with X-5. Minimus," she shot a suspicious look at the two-faced minion, " _You're_ coming with me." Even if he was Sparky's friend, Betty still didn't trust Minimus. She wanted to have her eye on him, just in case he tried anything.

"What about me!?" snapped Heidi, "I wanna go too! I'm not missing out on a chance to check out a mall!"

"Heidi, you go with Sparky," said Betty, ignoring the desperate look on Sparky's face.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

...

"You know, until recently I almost forgot what it was like to go out," mused Zulia, "It's so nice to do it again."

"How long has it been?" ventured Maximus.

"Ten years," said Zulia, "Besides that one we had. Although I did get engaged once to someone called Max Sr.," she said, remembering, "But it turned out badly."

Maximus shuddered as she said that. "Darling, please don't remind me of that day." He pressed his finger to Zulia's lips, shushing her.

"What gives?" she asked.

Maximus sighed. "Max Sr. is my father," he confessed, in a deadpan voice, "And that wedding was nothing more than a mere setup so he and his gang could steal everyone's valuables. I should know. I'm his son."

Zulia laughed. Then her jaw dropped when she realized he wasn't kidding. "You're saying I nearly got married to your father?" she stuttered, in a rather frightened whisper.

Maximus nodded, dully. "Indeed. I was there. If you must know, I felt rather guilty." His cheeks turned a little red as he said that.

Zulia's eyes widened.

"It was clear that everything was no more than a trap," Maximus said, tonelessly. His feline eyes seemed to wander around the room, never looking directly at her. "That pathetic scheme had Father's archaic ways written all over it. I say if you're going to be an insanely evil villain, you should go for more valuable targets—stars, planets, entire galaxies. But according to him, it's more villainous to pillage a few mere trinkets."

"All that phony stuff he said, and the next moment he holds me for ransom," Zulia said, crossly, as she remembered, "Of all the ways to ruin a wedding!"

"Father never loved you," Maximus said, bitterly, "He cares about nothing else but his own pockets, not even me. He never loved you the way I did."

He kind of wished he hadn't said that last part, but Zulia looked rather flattered, so he let it go.

They both avoided each other's eyes for a few moments, then Zulia broke the silence and changed the subject.

"This is such a nice place," mused Zulia, relaxing against the back of the seat and looking round at the incredibly posh handiwork, "Looks like a palace."

Maximus flashed his gleaming teeth at her. "Well, I made sure we got it all to ourselves, so feel free to admire."

"And it's nice and quiet," Zulia mused, looking around at the place, "Peaceful...Just you and me...here...alone...it's romantic."

As Zulia said those words, she felt an urge to do something. She leaned forwards and puckered her lips into a kiss. Maximus's eyes widened for a moment, but then he leaned forward too and their lips met. Maximus closed his eyes contentedly as his lips felt the same tingling feeling they had felt when he had last kissed her.

...

"Now stick to me at all times," snapped Sparky, tugging Heidi down the corridor of the mall. She was putting up quite a fight, and X-5 was looking at Sparky quite amusedly.

Heidi pouted. "But I don't want to do your boring work!" she complained, straining against Sparky's hand, "I wanna go check out the shops!"

"Well you can't!" said Sparky, yanking her after him.

"Pleeeeeeease!" whined Heidi, "I'll be as good as gold, I promise!"

Then she played her trump card and made her eyes larger and more vulnerable-looking. Her lip quivered, and Sparky groaned. When Heidi put on that face, she looked so cute that nobody could help but do what she said. It even worked on Sparky.

"Oh, _alright!"_ groaned Sparky, "You can go and look at the shops!"

"YAAAAAAAAAY!" cheered Heidi, jumping up and down excitedly. Several dozen shoppers looked at her.

Sparky gave a nervous grin, and the shoppers carried on walking. "Don't do that!" he scolded, "Don't attract attention. I don't want _anyone_ to think we're related!"

"But we _are_ related!" chirped Heidi.

"Exactly," snapped Sparky, "Now scram and meet me back in the centre in ten minutes. _Don't_ attract attention, _don't_ get into any trouble, and _DON'T_ expect me to buy anything for you. Cause I won't."

"Righty ho, big bro," Heidi saluted, which looked kind of cute. She skipped away from Sparky down the other corridor, humming a tune.

 _Sisters!_ thought Sparky, rolling his eyes, before continuing down the corridor with X-5.

Heidi skipped down the hallway and stared longingly at a shop that sold make up and dresses. _OK, Heidelinde,_ she told herself, _You've got ten minutes to try out as many shops as possible._

With that, she ran into the shop and gazed longingly at the stacks and stacks of lipstick and eye shadow sitting on the shelves. Oh...how fashionable...how full of style. A trickle of drool dripped from her lips.

Surely Sparky would agree to buy her just one little pot of lip gloss?

 _No,_ realized Heidi, _He's too mean._

She dragged her eyes away from the lipstick and exited. She explored the rest of the shops, focusing mostly on the dresses and make up. Everything was pretty much the same, but Heidi felt like she was in heaven. Just as she left the costume shop, something caught her eye inside the restaurant opposite it. Heidi peered in through the glass. The restaurant was completely empty, except for one table at the back. And sitting at that very table with very posh napkins and wine glasses was none other than Zulia herself. She was standing up on her seat and leaning forward with a look of overwhelming ecstasy on her face. And she was kissing somebody. Somebody tall and slim with whiskers and pointy ears, and wearing something long and red.

 _Ooooh,_ thought Heidi, running over to the entrance and pushing open the door, _Looks like my mamoolah's found true love. AND he's a cat. I like cats._

Maximus and Zulia opened their eyes and let go of each other's lips. They looked at each other, lovingly, then Maximus suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and heard a little squeaky voice say: "Hey there, Mr. Cat Dude. I like your shoes."

Maximus and Zulia both jumped! A tiny girl with green skin, white hair and a large nose was standing there, looking curiously at Maximus.

"HEIDI!?" exclaimed Zulia, incredulously, looking at the tiny Neutropian in disbelief. For a moment, she didn't quite know what was going on. "What— Why— How—!?"

"Oh, hey mom," said Heidi, casually, "I was just hangin' around, and saw you in here."

"Wait a minute. Is she your _daughter?"_ said Maximus, incredulously.

"Yes!" exclaimed Zulia, "But how..."

"Hey mom," Heidi said, striding over to Zulia and jabbing her thumb over her shoulder at Maximus, "Who's the cat in the red pyjamas?"

"WHAT!?" bellowed Maximus, slamming his cutlery down on the table and standing bolt upright, "These are not pyjamas, you little green pipsqueak! This imposing robe reflects on my magnificently regal bearing as the most _supreme_ evil ruler in all the galaxy!"

"Wow, you're a ruler?" Heidi exclaimed, looking at Maximus, "Can I use you to draw pencil lines?" She burst out laughing!

Maximus smacked his forehead. "Not _that_ kind of ruler," he said, exasperatedly.

Heidi giggled. "Ooh, I've gotta tell Sparky!" she exclaimed, excitedly.

"Sparky?" exclaimed Zulia in panic, "What, is he here?"

Heidi nodded, enthusiastically. "Sparky and his robot and girl friends came here looking for you," she replied, "Plus they brought along some tiny yellow thing with a tail and two faces."

"Minimus?" exclaimed Maximus, incredulously.

"I think that's his name," agreed Heidi.

"But—but—how did you even know where I was?" exclaimed Zulia.

"Sparky left a tracking device in your necklace," said Heidi, cheerfully, "And traced it into this mall."

Zulia gasped! She grabbed the necklace from around her neck and stared at it. A small red light bleeped in the centre of the pendant.

Zulia and Maximus groaned!

"Well I've gotta go tell them!" exclaimed Heidi, heading back over to the exit, "See you later, PJ kitty!"

Maximus fumed.

Zulia grabbed Heidi by the arm.

"Sweetheart, please, whatever you do, don't tell Sparky that we're here," begged Zulia, desperately, "Please."

"Aw, but why?" whined Heidi.

"Because I say so," Zulia said, firmly, "Don't tell a soul, Heidi, please."

"OK, mom," Heidi replied, innocently, "My lips are zipped." She strode out of the restaurant. She paused and looked back at them. Then she ran off the way she had come, squealing "Sparky! Sparky! Come look! Come look!"

Maximus and Zulia watched for a split second.

"I guess I should've seen that coming," said Zulia, tonelessly.

Sparky and X-5 met up with Betty and Minimus in the centre of the mall. "Did you see anything?" asked Betty.

Sparky shook his head. "Nothin' but a buncha clothing stores and cafés," he said, "Although they were giving out free corn dogs at the bakery!" He took a ferocious bite out of a delicious-looking corn dog he had gotten from the bakery. "Dee-lish!"

Minimus's head swivelled round to his nasty face. "Save some for the rest of us, green boy!" he growled.

His head swivelled round again. "Oh, I'm so hungry!" he pleaded.

"Fine!" Sparky rolled his eyes, and handed Minimus the most minute of his many corn dogs, "You take all the food and I'll just starve!"

Minimus's evil head growled at Sparky, before taking a bite out of the corn dog.

"Sparky! Sparky! Sparky!" squealed a voice from behind them. They all looked round. Heidi was running down one of the shopping aisles towards them. "Sparky! Sparky! Come look at this!" she squealed, tugging on his arm.

"No, Heidi!" snapped Sparky, crossly, "I told you, I'm not going to buy anything for you!"

"No, but Sparky, I saw mom!" exclaimed Heidi, "I saw mom at a table, kissing some kind of cat!"

That got their attention. Their bodies stopped rigid and four pairs of eyes fixed on the younger Neutropian.

"Cat?" said Betty, worriedly, "Did you say... _cat?"_

Heidi nodded, enthusiastically. "Uh huh!" she declared, "Some real tall cat thingy in red pyjamas!"

Sparky freaked out! "A cat in red pyjamas!?" he exclaimed in fright, "You don't mean...?"

"Heidi," said Betty, anxiously, "Did this cat look anything like this?" She pressed a button on her bracelet, and a holograph of Maximus I.Q. popped up.

"Yup!" declared Heidi, proudly, "That's him! He said something about being a supreme ruler and I asked could I draw pencil lines with him, and for some reason he didn't find that funny, and then—"

"Heidi, where did you see them?" exclaimed Betty, frantically.

"This way!" Heidi sprinted back down the corridor she had just come from.

Betty, Sparky, X-5 and Minimus locked eyes for a moment, and then rushed after Heidi.

...

"My dear, I suggest we leave before that _spawn_ of yours notifies those other Guardians," said Maximus, standing up.

"I don't know," said Zulia, hesitantly, and deciding to ignore the fact that Maximus had called Heidi her "spawn", "We can't keep this up forever, after all. Maybe we should try and...talk to them."

Maximus shook his head. "No. You may know Sparky, but believe me, that Betty _cannot_ be reasoned with. If those Guardians find out about this, they'll separate us forever. And I can't let that happen." He took her hand and slid her out of the seat.

Zulia paused. "OK. Let's go." She stood up, and they both headed to the till. Zulia started to open her purse, but Maximus blocked her hand.

"No, no, this is on me." he said. He reached into his robe and pulled out his Supervillain Express Card. It was one of the rare times when he actually paid for something, but as a matter of fact, it felt kind of good to do it. After all, there was no point in robbing banks every day if he was never actually going to spend the money on anything. He swiped the card over the card machine.

"Thank you," said Zulia, smiling, and they headed out, holding hands.

...

Heidi swerved to a halt in front of the restaurant, and the other four smacked right into her. They peered intently inside the restaurant, but there was no sign of Zulia or anything that looked even slightly like Maximus. In fact, it was completely empty.

"But mom was right here, doing the smoochie-smoochies with a pussy-cat in red PJ's!" exclaimed Heidi, pointing at the now empty table from behind the glass.

Betty, Sparky, X-5 and Minimus looked at Heidi, crossly.

"Typical," scowled Sparky, "Little sisters! Always trying to cause trouble!"

"But I'm not kidding!" protested Heidi.

Betty scowled at her. "Heidi, there's no time for jokes!" she scolded, crossly. She turned back to Sparky. "Sparky, are you _sure_ this is the place?" she asked, "Because we've searched the whole thing and there's no sign of Zulia. Or..." she added, nervously, "...Maximus."

"Hmmmm..." Sparky thought for a second. "Maybe we should go back and check the computer."

They all walked back down the corridor. Heidi skipped ahead, hoping nobody would think she was was with them, especially Sparky. She pushed open the door, and the little group headed out.

They were just about to go back to their starcruiser when Heidi spotted something about a hundred yards away.

Her face lit up!

"Hey, Sparky!" hollered Heidi, "You say I'm only tryin' to cause trouble? Well take a look at THAT!" She jabbed a finger out at the parking lot.

Betty, Sparky, X-5 and Minimus all turned round. Their jaws dropped!

Maximus I.Q. and Zulia were walking through the parking lot, _holding hands._

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Sisters, eh? Pfffft.**


	20. You're Busted!

**Chapter 20**  
 **You're Busted!**

"I TOLD YOU!" declared Heidi, triumphantly, jabbing her finger at the two.

Hearing Heidi's voice, Maximus and Zulia looked round. They gasped and jumped back! Sparky, X-5, Atomic Betty and Minimus were standing in the parking lot with looks of astonishment on their faces, along with Heidi, who looked rather triumphant.

Maximus and Zulia's eyes fell upon their clasped hands. They instantly let go and hid them behind their backs. But it was no use. The others had seen it all.

"He—"  
"And her—"  
"They were—"  
"She's been doing—"  
"With him—"  
"And that's why he's been—"  
"And now they're—"

"Mamoolah, what the _HECK_ are you doing!?" shrieked Sparky, throwing his hands in the air and running over to Zulia.

"Master, what are doing here!?" exclaimed Minimus, staring at Maximus in astonishment.

"ARE YOU NUTS!?" they both shrieked!

Maximus and Zulia both took a step back.

"We're _leaving!"_ snapped Minimus's evil head. He grabbed the sleeve of Maximus's red robe and stomped down the concrete.

"And mom, you're coming home right now!" Sparky snapped, yanking Zulia away from Maximus.

"No—Sparky, wait!" exclaimed Zulia, desperately, "I can explain—"

"No explanation needed! From this day on, you are forbidden from ever seeing Maximus again!" declared Sparky, jabbing his finger at the supervillain.

"No, wait!" exclaimed Zulia, pulling back, "Just wait a minute!"

"No!" snapped Sparky, "You're coming home!"

"No, wait!"  
"Stop!"  
"No!"  
"No!"

They struggled to get back, but Sparky and Minimus wrenched them away.

"No!"  
"Wait!"  
"You can't—"  
"Stop!"

"No!" they both cried, trying desperately to grab each other's hand, but their toadies pulled them away.

"NO!"

...

"Zulia, I think you owe Sparky a _big_ explanation!" exclaimed Betty, when she, Sparky, X-5, Heidi and Zulia were back in the starcruiser, heading home to Neutropia. Heidi was triumphant. Betty and X-5 were a little distressed. But Sparky was absolutely beside himself.

"What the HECK did you think you were doing, mom!?" shrieked Sparky, "How could you start dating Maximus again! He is evil! EVILLLLL!"

Zulia sighed. She had feared this. "I just—well—it was—you see—a few years ago—I just—oh, Sparky..."

"Just promise me, mom," Sparky said, weakly, "Promise me you'll _never_ try and see Maximus again."

Zulia gulped down the tears and sighed. "I...I promise."

 **A/N**

 **Sorry this chapter was so short. It was just one of those scenes where everything happened very quickly. Now onto Chapter 21!**


	21. Yarn Balls & Catnip

**Chapter 21**  
 **Yarn Balls & Catnip**

Seven days later, Zulia had finished and published her new romance novel _Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers,_ which was going to be released in three weeks. At least she had more time to write, now that she was single again. Her book was quite a splendid masterpiece, but in a way, it made her feel even sadder. Zulia sighed and stared down at the newly published novel sitting on her desk. She had promised to never see Maximus again, but she had refused to erase the dedication from her book. These past few days she had spent locked up in her work room. Sparky had barely seen her at all when he was at home, and even when he had, she didn't seem to be really there. Zulia wasn't the same person she once was, and she knew it. She knew that it was because of Maximus, but there was nothing she could do about him now.

She let her eyes drift away from the book and come to rest on her pen. Maybe she would write a tragedy next. There would be no need for improvisation. She turned back to the front page of her published novel and read the message she had written for Maximus for the hundredth time. She tried to get over him, but it wasn't easy.

"Who did I think I was kidding?" she forced herself to say, even though she didn't mean it, "It was foolish of me. I mean, what did I expect? That Maximus I.Q., Supreme Evil Overlord could ever be with me? That's ridiculous, so stupid, would never work, it's not like a supervillain could ever be such a caring, passionate, loving..." she began to lose herself as she droned on and on, "Handsome, sweet, romantic, strong—No! I need to stop!" She shook her head furiously and slammed her hand onto the wood.

Then her expression softened, and she sighed sadly. She may have had company in her house, but she was alone in her heart.

"Hey, mom," Sparky peeped into her workroom, "I think the wormburgers are ready."

Then he noticed the look on her face. She was sitting down with her head in her hands and staring out into space with a miserable expression. Sparky put his hands on his hips. "You're not still thinking about Cat Boy, are you?" he demanded.

"Of course not," Zulia said, sniffling, "He's my enemy."

 _My sweet...perfect...handsome...charming...adorable enemy,_ she whimpered in her head.

 _NO!_ She shook her head. _Don't think that! He's evil! You hate him! He's bad and you're good! Just keep thinking that!_

There, for the first time in her life, Zulia was fighting a losing battle. And in this one, handbags and kitchen utensils did not make her stronger.

She took the tray of wormburgers out of the microwave and brought them to the table. She sat down. The three Neutropians sat in the silence, eating their meal. Sparky took a bite of his. The wormburgers were nice, but they didn't taste nearly as good as they had used to. It appeared that her mood had affected her cooking. They ate in complete silence, and nobody said a word from the beginning to the end, until Zulia gathered up the plates and Heidi finally spoke.

"So, mom, are you gonna marry the pussy-cat?" asked Heidi, hopefully.

"WHAT!?" howled Sparky!

"Maybe," Heidi said, innocently, "I like cats. Cats are cool. Does he like catnip? Or yarn balls? Or—"

"Will you shut up!?" snapped Sparky, "Heidi, forget about Maximus, will you!? Mom's never seeing him again!" He looked directly at Zulia. " _Right,_ mom?"

Zulia sighed sadly. "Right." She turned her attention back to washing the dirty plates.

"Can't you make friends with the nice kitty cat, Sparky?" pestered Heidi.

"NICE KITTY CAT!?" shrieked Sparky, "Heidi, he's the Supreme Evil Overlord of the Galaxy!"

"Cool," said Heidi.

"No, Heidi, it is not cool!" exclaimed Sparky, hysterically, "Cat Boy is, like, the biggest villain in the universe! He robs banks and destroys planets as a _casual daily activity!"_

"He had cool pyjamas," said Heidi, casually.

"Who cares about his PJ's!? He tries to kill me multiple times a week!"

"If he does, can I have your bedroom?"

"Oh, I give up," said Sparky, disgustedly, and stomped out of the room.

...

Maximus I.Q. sat at his antique table, fingering his favourite yarn ball, but these days, yarn balls just weren't enough. They didn't have smooth green skin or pearly eyes or fluffy white hair. Or a sweet rose petal scent. He sighed and leaned back against the chair, trying to stop the warm and fuzzy feelings that were circulating through his body. The last thing he needed as a supervillain was to start getting warm and fuzzy feelings.

 _I knew I would regret this,_ he told himself, _And maybe I deserve it. Since when do Supreme Evil Overlords care about other people's feelings? I never should have called her back. I should have been over her years ago._

For the first time in Maximus's life, lying didn't feel good. Right now, the only person he was lying to was himself. He would never be able to forget Zulia, and he knew it. So he made a pledge. He promised himself, right there, right then, that he would never let anybody replace Zulia. Nobody could, and nobody would.

"Excuse me, your evilness?" Minimus said, peering round the door.

"What do _you_ want!?" snapped Maximus, glaring at the little peeping creature.

Minimus plodded into the room. "I have your favourite ceramic duck," he said, meekly, holding up Maximus's prized ceramic mallard, "Maybe that'll cheer you up."

"CHEER ME UP!?" bellowed Maximus, slamming his fists onto the table and standing up so abruptly that his chair went clattering to the floor, "This is all YOUR fault!" exclaimed Maximus, "You and those STUPID Galactic Guardians!"

Minimus took a step back in fright. "Oh—I'm sorry, master," he said, mildly, "I didn't mean to—"

"You're _sorry!?"_ bellowed Maximus, "What good does that do!? Now LEAVE ME ALONE!" And with a fulsome swipe, he sent Minimus hurling into the wall, along with Maximus's prized ceramic mallard, which shattered into a million pieces as it hit.

Maximus gasped! "You idiot!" he cried, "Look what you did to my duck!"

Minimus sighed. Maximus blaming him for something he didn't do? Typical. Just typical. It seemed like things were more or less back to normal. Quickly, before Maximus could blame him for something else, Minimus scampered out of the room. Maximus was in a particularly bad mood, and if Minimus knew Maximus, he knew that even being in the same room with him at a time like this would only result in a few broken bones, or at the very least some very nasty bruises. Minimus rubbed the bump on his head where Maximus had hit him. The pain felt so familiar, it was almost welcoming. Minimus sighed and plodded off down the corridor, leaving Maximus by himself. It had been nice while it lasted, not being abused, but Minimus should have known it was too good to stand.

The look of fury faded from Maximus's face, and he resumed to fingering the ball of yarn with the tips of his claws. It just didn't help. He flicked it onto the floor and watched passively as the yarn unrolled. He gazed over at his ceramic ducks, but didn't feel like playing with them. He didn't feel like anything could make him feel happy right now.

Except...

Maximus abruptly stood up, and headed over to the back of the room where a painting of a family of Golden Cascades swimming in a river hung on the wall. He took it down, revealing a safe built into the wall. He typed in the password: atomicbettysucks237, and opened the door to take out the small wooden box that he kept inside it. He opened the lid of the box, which was filled with green leaves. If yarn balls and ceramic ducks weren't enough, then it was time for one last desperate decision.

Catnip.

Maximus took two handfuls of the pungent green leaves, brought them to his nostrils and took a long, deep sniff.

Suddenly he was dancing on the clouds! Rainbows arced across the blue sky, lighting up the fresh air around him! He felt like gold stars were swirling all around his mind! He purred contentedly. Everything was perfect! Nothing could ever go wrong! He would never have to worry about another thing in his entire life!

Then the scent of the catnip faded from his nostrils, and his mind swam back into reality. He was standing back in his chambers. He put the catnip back in its special compartment, closed the safe, hung up the picture and sat down on the settee. He felt a bit better. But not a lot. Catnip always made Maximus feel good, although right now he wasn't so sure if the feeling was real or fake.


	22. Penelope, You're Just Too Wicked!

**Chapter 22**  
 **Penelope, You're Just Too Wicked**

"Listen up, school pals!" announced Penelope Lang, striding through the school hallways, "Coming up this weekend is my birthday party! There's gonna be rides, shows, _extremely_ fancy party food, just about _everything_ a kid could want at a party!"

Betty rolled her eyes. "Oh, _please,"_ she said, sarcastically.

"There's _also_ going to be a _fabulous_ space display that you would just absolutely _love,_ Betty, but—awwwwwwww!" Penelope pouted, "You're not _invited!"_

"That's OK," said Betty, sarcastically, "I'll be flossing my teeth that night, anyway!"

"Then how about you invite those _loser_ friends over to your place and floss them together?" sneered Penelope, "They're not invited either! No _losers_ allowed at _my_ party! So why don't you give them a _call_ and make plans? Oh, wait, I forgot!" Penelope grinned nastily, "You _can't!"_

Betty twitched with fury as Penelope and her sidekicks laughed nastily at Betty and strode towards the classroom. Since Penelope's attempt to portray Betty as a space freak for her interest in aliens had failed, (due to everybody being so impressed of how much she knew about space) she had gone back to the old standby: teasing Betty about not having a mobile phone, like every kid her age "should have".

Betty stamped her foot in anger. If she got paid to put up with that snob, she'd be able to afford a lot more than just a phone.

"Betty, don't listen to her, she's only trying to get under your skin," said Dylan, walking up to her, "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Yes there is!" Betty burst out, "Every kid in the whole school has a phone except me!"

"So what?" asked Dylan, "There's nothing wrong with that. Having a phone doesn't change anything about you. In fact, I can think of a quite a few people who could do with shaping up a bit. And _they_ have phones." Clearly he meant Penelope and her sidekicks.

"If I had a phone I wouldn't have to listen to Penelope's _catcalls,_ though," Betty pointed out, crossly.

"Just ignore her," said Dylan, "She's not worth it. Come on, let's get our project ready. The class is gonna _love_ it."

Betty's fed up expression brightened a little and they went into class. Penelope's eyes followed Betty with a look of loathing as she and Dylan sat down at their table, two seats away from Penelope.

As the lesson dragged by, two by two, the kids presented their science projects, each with a different aspect of science, everything from photosynthesis to the nervous system. Some were exceptional, and some weren't quite as good. Noah and Paloma's was obviously the best. Chip and Dalton's was OK. Penelope had had Megan do the whole thing for her, so theirs wasn't so bad either. Eventually, Betty and Dylan came up and presented their project on some star system that Penelope had never even heard of.

She watched with utmost loathing as they talked. She just couldn't believe that any two people could be _so_ perfect. It was so infuriating to watch Betty and Dylan present their science project in front of the class and see how impressed everybody was. Ugh. That Betty was _such_ a show-off. But then again, not everyone could be as kind and modest as Penelope.

She shoved her elbows onto the table and ignored Betty, who was talking about the rotation of the planet Nexus 4, whatever that was. Ugh. What a geek.

As she purposely looked away, her eyes fell upon Dylan's jacket, which was hanging off the back of his chair, two seats away from her. And there was something poking out of his inside pocket.

Suddenly, Penelope's face twitched, and a wicked, wicked grin crawled onto her face. She had just had an idea. An evil idea. A _very_ evil idea. It was eviler than when she had sabotaged Betty's locker to make Principal Peterson think she was abusing school property. Eviler than when she had entered Betty's captain's log into the story competition so Miss Dourly would think she was nuts. Eviler than when she had stolen Betty's prize pumpkin pie to enter in the competition herself.

Slowly and deftly, making sure nobody was watching, Penelope slid her hand into Dylan's inside pocket and took out his phone. She put it on mute so it wouldn't ring, and carefully hid it in her bag. She zipped it up, then resumed to watching Betty and Dylan's dumb space presentation. Shivers of evil ran down her spine. _This has to be my greatest idea yet,_ thought Penelope, grinning devilishly at Betty and Dylan, _Ooh, Penelope! You give me the shivers!_

...

Things were going as well as could be on Neutropia these days. After freaking out from the Maximus-Zulia incident, Sparky had had the theory that his mamoolah had been alone at home so much that she had gone crazy and started dating a supervillain again out of desperation, so he figured that if he and Heidi stayed home more, spending time with Zulia, this whole thing would completely blow over. He hoped so, at least. He didn't think he could handle another one of her bad boyfriends.

Zulia was very glad that her children were spending more time with her. It was what she had wanted for a long time. But Sparky had been wrong in thinking that Zulia would forget about Maximus. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She tried to force herself to deny that she loved him, but failed miserably. It was only when she sat down in front if the 3-V with her children that evening that she had an idea.

"We interrupt this movie with an important newsflash!" Captain Chuck announced, as a new picture flashed up on the screen, replacing the movie they were watching, "At eleven fifty-three this morning, the high-security jewel depository on planet Narxx was robbed of seventeen thousand priceless gemstones! Isn't that exciting!?"

"That guy bugs me," said Sparky, in an irritated voice.

"Even the rare prized sapphires from planet Bluzo were taken!" announced Chuck, on the screen, "Isn't that terrible!? This crime was committed by none other than Galactic Enemy Number One: Supreme Evil Overlord Maximus I.Q.!" A picture of Maximus in his red robe popped up on the TV.

Zulia's jaw dropped! Quick as a whip, she snatched the remote from Sparky's lap and zapped the TV off! She exhaled at a quick pace, then ran into her workroom and slammed the door. Sparky watched her, bemusedly.

"It's that cat again," teased Heidi, pointing at the TV, "You know it, Sparky. Our mamoolah's in looooooooooove!"

"Why you little—" Sparky pounced on Heidi and they both engaged in a battle of violent wrestling.

Zulia slammed the door and clutched her head in pain.

"No," Zulia forced upon herself, "Get over him. You don't love him. He doesn't exist. He doesn't exist. He doesn't exist."

Tears squeezed out of her eyes as she failed to keep them shut. She grabbed a tissue and wiped her damp cheeks, before sighing and collapsing in her work chair. Her eyes grazed the room as she tried to get him out of her head.

Then, as Zulia's eyes fell upon the published novel sitting on her desk, she suddenly had an idea. Sparky had made her promise to never try and _see_ Maximus again, but he hadn't said anything about writing. With that thought in her head, she grabbed a fresh piece of paper and an envelope from her desk drawer and flicked the lid off her pen.

 _Dear Maximus,_ she wrote, _I wish I was with you right now._

She continued writing the letter, and as she did so, tears came from her eyes and dripped onto the paper, slightly smudging the ink.

 _Zulia xxx_ she finished writing, then grabbed another tissue and wiped her eyes.

She wetted the envelope's edge with her tongue and smoothed it shut, then picked up her pen and addressed it to V Quadrant. Then Zulia picked up her newly published novel _Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers._ She brought it to her lips and kissed the cover, then wrapped it up in packing paper and sellotaped her letter to it.

Promising Sparky she wouldn't be long, she headed down to the postbox on the corner to post her package. The skies were a dark and gloomy grey, seeming to reflect Zulia's mood. She sighed and continued down the tiled path. Twice she thought she saw Maximus. The first time it was a Neutropian. The second time it was a tree.

She held the package close to her chest, silently begging for it to arrive safely, then stood on her tiptoes and pushed it through the letterbox. She heard a cardboard thump as her package hit the bottom.

As Zulia walked back down the path towards her house, there was a crackle of thunder in the gloomy grey sky. Rain began to pour down, soaking Zulia to the skin. And this time Maximus wasn't there to shelter her in his arms.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Poor Zulia. She misses him so much. And how about Penelope, eh? Looks like she's back to being up to no good. Can't wait to see what she's planning.**


	23. Dumped!

**Chapter 23**  
 **Dumped!**

Maximus's eyes grazed the enormous pile of gemstones he had stolen from the jewel depository yesterday. He thought it would make him feel better, but it didn't. He tried to convince himself that there was no reason to be unhappy, as he had everything a supervillain could ever want; riches, power, weapons, enslaved worlds...but he couldn't. He just couldn't. He couldn't erase Zulia from his head. He felt like a part of him was gone.

He decided to go out and clear his head. Maybe blow up a few dozen planets. A little excitement and destruction. That would surely make him feel better.

He headed out of his chambers and opened the door of the docking bay containing all his spaceships. He started towards his black spaceship with the red M for Maximus on the front, then shook his head. The death ray on that ship had been busted by Atomic Betty weeks ago, and it would take some time to repair. He considered the MHD Courtship he had built from stolen blueprints, but thought the better. The MHD was irreplaceable, so he only used it when it was absolutely one hundred percent necessary. He moved on to his smaller ship that had a similar design to his larger one, but that one only fired lazers and ejected Flaberian space goo, neither of which would blow up planets instantly. Then his eyes fell upon the blue spaceship with the white stripe that he had always taken Zulia in. It was her favourite one. And it was equipped with excellent death rays. He decided to take that one.

Because of the death rays, of course, not because it was the one he had sat with Zulia in. Oh no. Not at all.

...

Betty opened her locker and took out her art folder. She unzipped her school bag and tucked it inside. She hoped Miss Dourly would be impressed by her painting of the Siconian star system with its glowing pink sun, flaming comet clusters and twinkling stars. She had taken so much time drawing it, and Sparky and X-5 had been kind enough to take her there to get it perfect. But then again, Miss Dourly didn't usually have a normal person's opinion of what was good art and what wasn't.

"Useless!" was Miss Dourly's favourite word. "Useless!" she would say, when a student turned in a beautifully created painting of a river scene or a star system. "Useless!" she would say, when a student presented a detailed papier-mâché animal, or a perfectly-built model made out of wood. Miss Dourly loved nothing more than to dismiss the students' hard work and efforts, and criticize them about not being able to produce "real art".

Betty was just about to close her locker and head to art class, when—

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

 _Here we go again,_ thought Betty, rolling her eyes.

She ran down the hallway, swerved into the janitor's cupboard, slammed the door, and turned on her bracelet.

"Atomic Betty reporting for duty!"

"Atomic Betty! We need you!" exclaimed Admiral DeGill, "Maximus I.Q. is destroying planets in the Quilarian Nebula! He must be stopped!"

Betty saluted. "I'm on my way!" She tossed her school bag aside, pressed a button on her bracelet and beamed up to her starcruiser.

A zapping sound, similar to the buzz when a television was turned on, emitted from the closet, and a flash of light could be seen through the slits around the doors, just for a moment.

Penelope was standing nearby, and the zap caught her attention. She walked over to the janitor's closet.

"Hello?" she drawled, opening the door to see nothing but a bunch of buckets, mops and cleaning equipment. Penelope's head tilted. "That's odd," she mused, "I'm sure I heard something."

Then Penelope's eyes fell upon Betty's dropped school bag. A malicious grin crawled onto her face. "This is just _too_ easy," she smirked, unzipping Betty's bag with her dainty fingernails. She reached into her pocket and brought out Dylan's stolen phone. It was the work of a moment to slide it into one of the inside pockets of Betty's bag.

Out of sight...for now.

Penelope zipped up Betty's bag and put it back in exactly the place it had been. She shot a devilish look of triumph at it, before turning round and opening the door.

"Ooh, Penelope," she purred, striding out of the janitor's closet, "You're so evil!"

...

"I can't believe this!" exclaimed Sparky, crossly, swerving their starcruiser round a nearby asteroid, "First my mamoolah dates Maximus I.Q., then gets _engaged_ to Max Sr., and now suddenly Maximus again!?" Sparky folded his arms and scowled at his mamoolah's terrible choice in boyfriends.

Betty sighed. "Yep, she sure knows how to pick 'em, doesn't she?"

"Affirmative," said X-5, "Although why anybody would still want to date a supervillain is beyond my vast knowledge."

"Exactly! I mean, who's it gonna be next!?" exclaimed Sparky, hysterically, diving the ship between stray asteroids, "Hopper the Chopper!? Dr. Cerebral!? Max Sr. _again!?"_

"Statistically, the odds of that occurring are fourteen trillion, six billion and forty-three to one," said X-5.

"You said that about Maximus and my mom, though, didn't'cha?" snapped Sparky.

X-5 sighed. Sparky did have a bit of a point there. If Zulia could date Maximus I.Q. _twice,_ they guessed anything could happen.

"Sparky, I know you were annoyed about what happened, but don't you think you've been talking about it a bit too mu—LOOK OUT!" Betty shrieked, pointing to a flaming comet the size of a demolition ball hurtling towards their starcruiser!

Sparky gave a shriek and steered the starcruiser away from the comet's path!

"Phew!" exclaimed Betty, "That came out of nowhere!"

"Actually, it came from one of the Quilarian Nebula's comet clusters," said X-5, pointing, "Which means we are here."

"And look who else is," Betty said, spotting Maximus I.Q.'s blue spaceship in the distance, "Maximus!"

Maximus pressed a button on his remote. The global death ray in his ship zapped another planet, blowing it to smithereens. His deadpan expression didn't shift. He played with a few buttons, and several planets exploded right there in front of his eyes. His eyebrows didn't even raise. He absent-mindedly blew up another dozen planets, but it didn't make him feel any better. In fact, he felt even worse as his eyes drifted over to the empty spot next to him where Zulia had always sat. He relaxed against the spot and discovered it smelled just like her; like freshly picked rose petals with a mix of her special perfume. His whiskers drooped. Then he spotted a bright red starcruiser shooting towards his blue spaceship.

 _Great,_ he thought, crossly, _Just what I need._ He pressed a button, and another planet exploded.

A signal from Betty's starcruiser appeared on his video phone. "Maximus!" ordered Atomic Betty, "By the power vested in me, I order you to cease this destruction you have caused!"

 _Showtime,_ Maximus thought, cantankerously, and forced his face into a mocking grin. It was hard, believe you me.

"Aha...Atomic Betty!" he purred, "Welcome to my firework show."

"Nobody gave you the right to destroy these planets!" exclaimed Betty.

"You think I need a _right?"_ smirked Maximus, trying very hard to keep his exterior evil, "You know, I remember a time not too long ago when I was destroying planets in the Quilarian Nebula without a _right,_ and these _pesky_ Galactic Guardians tried to get in my way. And you know what I did? I zapped them with my death ray and never had to worry about them again!"

The Guardians eyed him with hatred.

"Oh, wait!" exclaimed Maximus, "That's _now."_ His whiskers twitched with excitement, "Let's see how you like it when you face YOUR ultimate destructio—"

Then he paused.

"Actually, you know what, I can't be bothered to deal with you fools right now," he said, tonelessly, "Goodbye."

And with that, he raised his sharpest claw and stabbed it into the video phone, cracking the screen. Betty's video phone went black. The thrusters on the side of Maximus's blue spaceship warmed up, and then the ship shot off into the stars and vanished.

The three friends sat there motionlessly with astonished faces.

"Did that really just happen?" queried Sparky.

Betty nodded, with the same look of amazement on her face. "I've _never_ seen Maximus give up without a fight before."

"He's probably too embarrassed to face us after what he tried to do with my mom!" scowled Sparky, "I still can't believe she was gullible enough to actually say yes! Why the heck would she want to date Cat Boy twice!? I mean, of all the dirty pathetic scams, this one had to be—"

"WE GET IT!" yelled Betty and X-5.

...

With a flash of light, Betty was beamed back into the janitor's closet. She grabbed her school bag and headed for art class.

"Where were you, young lady?" demanded Miss Dourly, as Betty entered the class, "The class started fifteen minutes ago!"

"Sorry," said Betty, nervously, "I, um, came back from lunch a little, um, late, and then my, um, padlock got stuck and it took a while to, um, open it. I couldn't come to class without my painting, after all."

"And where _is_ your painting?" asked Miss Dourly.

"Right here," said Betty, proudly. She unzipped her bag and brought out her painting of the Siconian star system.

"Oooooooh!" marvelled the class in wonder, as they gazed at her painting. It really was quite a masterpiece.

Miss Dourly adjusted her glasses and examined Betty's painting.

"Useless!"

...

"Sometimes I think Miss Dourly doesn't even _want_ to see good art," said Betty, crossly, as she strode out of the class with Noah and Paloma.

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, Betty," said Noah, dismissively, "You should have seen what Miss Dourly said about _my_ drawing."

"And your painting was fantastic, Betty," said Paloma, taking Betty's painting of the Siconian star system in her hands and looking at it, "It looks just like the real thing."

"The real thing?" repeated Noah, "That makes you sound like you've seen it in real life."

Panic crossed Paloma and Betty's faces! Noah didn't know about their secret, after all, and they wanted it to stay that way.

"What I meant was," said Paloma, "It looks exactly what I think a star system _would_ look like in real life."

"Oh," said Noah.

Betty and Paloma caught eyes and winked, then the three besties headed for the lockers.

"Oooh, looks like someone's already there," teased Noah, pointing to the tall blonde boy standing in front of his locker.

"Maybe Noah and I will step out for a moment," said Paloma, knowingly, and she and Noah stepped back.

Betty smiled. "Hey, Dylan!" she called, walking over "Any luck?"

"No," said Dylan, shaking his head, "It's so weird, I'm _sure_ I had my phone on me yesterday."

"Have you checked Lost & Found?" Betty asked.

Dylan nodded.

"That's a shame," said Betty, sympathetically. Then she grinned. "But just count yourself lucky you didn't go through the catastrophe _I_ did when I mislaid my property," she said, with a smile.

"What happened?" asked Dylan.

Betty chuckled as she remembered when Duncan Paine had accidentally contacted Maximus with Betty's lost bracelet and insulted him nonstop in front of the entire galaxy, leading Maximus on a course to destroy Earth.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you!" she said, rolling her eyes.

Unknown to them, Penelope was just round the corner, listening to their every word. They were conversing, taking up time. Perfect! Penelope dug out her phone and dialled Dylan's number. Her face twitched with evil as she pressed the call button.

The sound of Dylan's ringtone started up inside Betty's bag, attracting both their attention.

"What's that?" asked Dylan.

"Oh...I don't know," said Betty, "Never mind." She waved it off.

"No, wait a minute," said Dylan, frowning, grabbing Betty's bag and unzipping it, "That sounds like my ringtone!"

He stuck his hand into the inside pocket of Betty's bag and brought out his vibrating phone. Both his and Betty's jaws dropped.

"Betty!" exclaimed Dylan, incredulously, " _You_ took this!?"

Betty's eyes widened! "Dylan, I—I don't—you—I—the—" she tried to say, but was too confused to what was happening to say anything.

"I know how annoyed you are about not having a phone, but I can't believe you would actually take someone else's!" said Dylan, angrily, "And from me, of all people!"

"Dylan, wait a minute, I just—"

"And you _lied_ to me!" he said, angrily, "I thought I could trust you!"

"No, wait, Dylan, please, it's not what it looks like—"

"I can't believe you, Betty!" said Dylan, angrily, "I thought we had something! I really did! I guess I was wrong."

He slammed his locker shut and trod down the hallway.

"Dylan, wait!" exclaimed Betty.

"I don't want to talk to you, Betty!" said Dylan, not looking back at her, "We're through!"

As he disappeared round the corner, Betty stood there in shock, taking in what had just happened. She twitched. How had Dylan's phone got into her bag? Had _she_ taken it? She took a step forward, then the next second burst into tears and ran sobbing into the girls' bathroom.

 _Oh, Betty,_ thought Penelope, grinning nastily to herself, _It looks like someone's just been dumped!_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I'm not surprised the Bee People wanted Penelope as their queen. She really is the _evilest._ I assume you all agree.**


	24. Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers

**Chapter 24**  
 **Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers**

Maximus shoved his hand onto the insignia on his front door, and it swung open. He was furious at himself for being such a doormat. He should have just zapped those pesky Guardians with his death ray like he always did. But today, he just didn't think he had it in him. Just as he dragged his feet through the entrance, he noticed a package sitting on his welcome mat, which, instead of "WELCOME" said "GO AWAY". Maximus picked up the package. It was wrapped in brown packing paper, and sellotaped to the top was a letter. The address was written in a curved feminine hand, and in the corner was the stamp of the planet Neutropia. Maximus's heartbeat quickened. He walked quickly back to his personal chambers and sat back down on his chair. He picked up the envelope first and slit the casing with his needle-sharp claw, before unfolding the letter and reading its contents.

 _Dear Maximus,_ it said, _I wish I was with you right now. I could really use your comfort. I know we cannot see each other, but that doesn't mean we cannot write. I just want to say thank you for everything you did for me. Being with you made me feel so happy. I really miss you and I wish that it didn't have to be this way._

Maximus felt a blow to his heart as he read these words.

 _I miss you too, Zulia,_ he thought, miserably. He carried on reading the letter and noticed that the ink was slightly smudged in places from Zulia's teardrops.

 _Enclosed is my new novel which I published two days ago. It hasn't been released yet, but I wanted you to be the first one to read it. I hope you like it._

 _I love you.  
_ _Zulia xxx_

Tenderly, Maximus picked up the package that had come with the letter and unwrapped it. It was a book. The title read _Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers by Lola Polaris._ He opened the front cover, and saw something on the front page which made him want to cry. Printed in bold letters on the front page was the message Zulia had written for him in her notebook.

Maximus pressed his finger vigorously against his tear duct, preventing any leakages. A Supreme Evil Overlord didn't cry. He sighed and put the book down on the table. He put his head in his hands and stared at it for a while, feeling sad.

"Um, master?" said Minimus, meekly, plodding into the room and seeing the look of sadness on Maximus's face, "Are you...OK?"

"I'm FINE!" snapped Maximus, slamming his fist onto the tabletop, cluttering the fruitbowl, letter and book. Then Minimus spotted it.

"What's that?" asked Minimus, pointing at Zulia's book, "A book? I thought you didn't like reading."

"Don't ask me questions!" snapped Maximus! He raised his hand and aimed a smack at Minimus's head!

Minimus gave a yelp and ducked, and Maximus's hand missed his head by a hair's breadth.

"Minimus," Maximus said, in a deadly voice, "Did you just _duck?"_

Minimus sighed. Now he was in for it.

"You KNOW the rules!" scolded Maximus, "You are NOT allowed to duck when I'm trying to beat on you! Now hold still!"

Minimus obeyed, and the smack that came to his head turned out to be very painful. His head spun around like a Catherine wheel, before finally settling to rest on his good face.

"Thank you, master," he said, wearily, rubbing the bump on his head and feeling extremely dizzy.

 _That's what I get for getting used to being pampered!_ he scolded himself as he trod out of the room.

A few hours later, Maximus climbed up the tall, tall ladder and lay down against the luxurious pillows that made up his unnecessarily posh bed. He opened _Whispering Moons And Star-Crossed Lovers_ to the front page and read Zulia's message again. Normally he hated reading, but this was different.

He turned the page to the first chapter. He had to say, he was impressed by Zulia's writing style, and the story really made him feel like he was there. He read long into the night, and no matter how exhausted he got, he was determined to finish Zulia's book. As the hours went by, his eyelids started to droop every few seconds, and his vision went a little blurry with tiredness. Eventually, he gave up and marked the page he was on with a bookmark, before putting it down and turning off the light. He slumped down onto the pillows and instantly fell asleep, drifting off into a wonderful dream about a land made entirely out of catnip, where all the rivers ran with milk, and everybody who lived there was a duck.


	25. The Crisis of Break-Ups

**Chapter 25**  
 **The Crisis of Break-Ups**

 _Two weeks later..._

Things were not going well for the goodies _or_ the baddies. Maximus and Zulia continued to pen-pal every day, but they still felt miserable. Everyone knew that long-distance relationships _never_ worked out, and besides, they wanted more than just letters. And poor Atomic Betty fared no better.

"How can I even talk to him!?" she bawled one evening as she paced around her garage where she, Noah, Paloma, Chip and Dalton were making a new comic book in their series.

"Who?" questioned Dalton.

"Dylan!" she exclaimed, wringing her hands, "He won't even look at me! And I just don't know what to do!"

"You should just tell him the truth," said Paloma, "I'm sure he'll believe you. He likes you, remember?"

"You mean he _did_ like me," said Betty, miserably, "And what am I supposed to say to him!? Every time I want to, I find myself running as fast as I can in the opposite direction. I don't know what to do! His phone was in my bag! _And_ I've been complaining for ages about not having a phone! You can't blame him for thinking it was me! I mean, what if I _did_ take it?" she exclaimed, "I don't think I did, but it's not impossible. What if I slipped it into my bag by accident when I was sitting next to him in science?"

"Well then why don't you just just tell him that?" asked Noah, in confusion.

"I can't!" exclaimed Betty, hysterically, "Then he'll think I'm a scatterbrain who can't even keep track of whose property is whose!"

She turned away from her friends and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said, "I'm just upset."

"Betty," said Chip, "The way you're talking, it makes you sound like you're afraid of him."

The other three nodded in agreement.

"I am not afraid!" exclaimed Betty, pacing round the room more vigorously, "I've battled with Blood Monks and Gog Beasts and—oops!" she caught herself just in time, "Never mind."

"Betty," said Paloma, gently, putting her hand on Betty's shoulder, "I've seen you and Dylan. You two are perfect. And Dylan isn't Penelope or Duncan. He doesn't laugh when you make mistakes. He helps you up."

...

"MINIMUS!" bellowed Maximus, "Where's my supper!?" He slammed his cutlery down on the table.

Minimus hurriedly skipped into the room, holding Maximus's dinner.

"You took your time!" snapped Maximus, as Minimus nervously approached the table.

"Oh—a thousand apologies, your horribly unsettled one," said Minimus, meekly, placing the tray in front of Maximus, "Your supper is here."

"Well it's about time!" snapped Maximus, tying a napkin round his neck and picking up his cutlery, "I don't get paid to wait for you! If I did I'd be rich!"

Well, richer.

"And while you're at it, get me a glass of milk! _Extra_ cream!" he added, in a deadly voice.

Minimus gulped! "M-milk? Right away, most perfectionist one!" he stammered, and scampered back into the kitchen.

"His supreme overlordness wants a glass of milk!" he called to Chef Bernadette, who was working at her stove, "With _extra_ cream," he added with feeling, "Do _not_ forget the cream. You _know_ what his evilness can be like when his milk isn't perfect!" He shuddered!

Chef Bernadette rolled her eyes. "He'll be wanting a glass of milk _worthy of him,_ I presume!" she said, sarcastically.

Minimus laughed, faintly. "Heh heh...how did you know?" he asked, in a faint tone of humour.

Bernadette rolled her eyes again and opened the fridge. Maximus used the words "worthy of me" for just about every order he ever gave, and Bernadette had long since lost count of how many times he had said it.

"Here's your milk with extra cream, your most disproportionately evil one," Minimus said, nervously, plodding over to the table and putting the glass of milk worthy of Maximus down on top of the tablecloth. Maximus whisked it off the table and took a gulp.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Maximus spat out a mouthful of milk and whipped round! Post! He shot out of his chair like a bolt of lightning and raced down the corridor. Minimus watched with surprise. Maximus ran through his citadel, reached the front door and flung it open.

"Mail for Maximus I—"

Snatch! SLAM!

Maximus speed-walked back to his dining room, tossing letter after letter over his shoulder until he finally found one from Zulia. He sat back down at the table, then slit the paper with his claw and shook the letter out of the envelope.

"Whatcha got there, boss?" queried Minimus, peering over Maximus's shoulder and pointing at Zulia's letter.

"That's NONE of your business!" Maximus snapped, shoving Minimus into the floor. But Minimus had already seen what it was.

His evil head snorted! "You're being a _wuss!"_ he growled, "Get over her, she's just some stupid girl!"

He instantly knew he'd gone too far. Maximus's eyebrows narrowed, and the next moment, Minimus smashed into the wall.

"She is _not_ just some stupid girl," Maximus said, between gritted teeth, "She meant the world to me and you and those Guardians took that away. NOW BEAT IT!" He grabbed an empty glass from the table and hurled it at Minimus!

Minimus yelped and scampered out of the room as the glass smashed into the wall where he had just been standing. He backed against the wall of the corridor, panting. Wow. _That_ was close. After a few minutes, he took a risk and peeped in again. Maximus's look of fury had faded away, and he was staring at the letter with a miserable expression on his face. He sipped his milk.

Minimus burst into tears behind the wall! "Oh, I _hate_ seeing master so unhappy!" he wailed!

...

"Hmmhmmhmm," hummed Sparky, as he sat at his pilot's chair, polishing his shoes with Sudsy, "I tell ya, X-5, there's no better cleaning product than Sudsy!"

X-5 sighed.

"Sudsy!" declared Sparky, "Clean with Sudsy! Thanks to Sudsy, no more mudsy!"

"Please stop," said X-5, tonelessly, "It is _not_ funny."

"Yes it is!"  
"No it's not!"  
"It is!"  
"Not!"  
"Is!"  
"Not!"  
"Is!"  
"Not!"

Their argument was promptly cut short as a ringtone sounded up in Sparky's pocket. He dug out his phone and held it to his pointy green ear.

"Hello?" he queried.

The sound of noisy sobbing came from the other end of the line. "Oh, Sparky, what have we _done!?"_ wailed Minimus. He blew his nose on a tissue, making a considerably loud noise.

"Oh, hey Minimus," answered Sparky, "What's up?"

"Master's so unhappy!" Minimus wept, "I hate seeing him so upset! Oh, this is all our fault!"

"What're you talkin' about!?" exclaimed Sparky, "Supervillains don't have _feelings!"_

There was a click from the end of the line as Minimus's head swivelled round. "Maybe you don't know _everything,_ green boy!" growled Minimus's evil voice. Then his head clicked again and he burst into a fresh surge of tears.

"It's cause of your mom!" Minimus wailed, "It all makes sense now! That's why he was being nice! Oh what have we _done!?"_ He blew his nose, noisily.

"Minimus!" exclaimed Sparky, angrily, "Stop being so over-emotional! He's just Cat Boy being Cat Boy! Besides, there's nothing up with my mamoolah. She's absolutely _fine._ She's not feeling unhappy in the slightest."

This was a downright lie. Sparky knew full well that his mamoolah was heartbroken, but he refused to believe the fact that it was because she loved Maximus.

"Oh, well," sighed Minimus, wiping his wet cheeks, "I guess it must just be me."

"Keep thinkin' that," said Sparky, "Anyway, I've gotta go. And really, stop crying, you're such a wuss sometimes."

He put down the phone, and Minimus sighed sadly.

...

 _A few hours later..._

That night, Sparky woke up from a bad dream. He was about to lie down and go back to sleep when he heard a quiet whimpering noise coming from his mamoolah's room. His head tilted in confusion. He stepped out of bed and slid his feet into his slippers, which were shaped like Gog Beast heads, then opened his bedroom door and tiptoed out into the hallway. He entered Zulia's room and didn't like what he saw.

She was lying asleep on her bed, with half her face buried in the pillow. She was clutching the sheet in a vise-like grip and the pillow was wet with tears. Sparky's expression softened. She had been crying.

"Mom?" Sparky whispered. He leaned over so to give her a nudge, but as he did so, his elbow put weight on the pillow, and Sparky heard the crackle of paper from underneath. He tilted his head, then lifted up the corner of the pillow and saw a bunch of papers folded underneath it. Carefully, so not to wake Zulia up, Sparky prised the papers from under the pillow and took a look at them. They were letters, written in fancy black ink, and printed at the top of every page was the insignia of—

"Maximus!" exclaimed Sparky, staring at the cat symbol! His eyes narrowed!

Hearing the sound, Zulia jittered in her sleep. Her expression contorted.

 _"Maximus..."_

Sparky froze. Had that come from Zulia? He looked up from the papers. Zulia suddenly twitched, and began to whimper in her sleep. Her whole body had gone tense and rigid, and her hands shook as she clutched the sheet desperately. That meant she was having a nightmare.

 _"Maximus..."_ she whimpered again, still asleep.

Sparky's face narrowed into a scowl. Great. She was still thinking about Maximus. I mean, what _was_ it with her and the supervillains? Was she _really_ that dumb to think Maximus could actually love her?

But then, as Sparky's eyes resumed to the letters in his hands, his thoughts rapidly began to turn into doubts. His eyes widened in astonishment he read what was written on the top letter.

 _Dearest Darling Zulia,_ it said, _Thank you so much for writing to me. I only wish I could hear your beautiful voice._

Whoah. Maximus I.Q. had written this? To Zulia? Sparky's jaw dropped. He read through the next letters in the bunch and his eyes widened further. Was it possible? Could these really truly be from Maximus? Because it wasn't the sort of language you would expect from a Supreme Evil Overlord. No matter how hard he tried, Sparky couldn't picture Maximus saying anything that was written in these letters. But they were unmistakably from him. You couldn't get this kind of paper anywhere else in the galaxy.

 _Maybe Minimus was right,_ thought Sparky, _For once. Maybe we really did make a mistake._

He placed the letters back under Zulia's pillow and dug a hole into his memory. He kissed his mother on the cheek and went back to bed.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Guess things are beginning to pan out. I wonder what Sparky will do.**


	26. Crystal-Gazing

**Chapter 26**  
 **Crystal-Gazing**

Betty pushed open the front door and walked into the house. She put her school bag down on the living room table and called out to let her parents know she was back. "Dad, mom," she called, gloomily, "I'm home."

"Hi, Betty!" exclaimed Tanya, strolling into the room in her usual flirty walk. Then she noticed the look on Betty's face. "Whatever is up with you lately?" she exclaimed, "Why the long face?"

"It's Dylan," said Betty, sadly, "When I first met him, it was love at first sight. And now he hates me. I just don't know what to say to him."

She had hoped for some sympathy, but Tanya gave the exact opposite.

"I tried to tell you this would happen," Tanya said, critically, "You're _never_ going to get anywhere with boys the way _you_ are."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Betty, with a slight hint of anger.

"I've told you before, but you would just never listen," said Tanya, "I've _tried_ to teach you how to be a _real_ girl, but every time I try and persuade you to come to a fashion show or a salsa class to put you on the _right_ path, you always say no and end up going to those _boyish_ skateboarding contests and soccer games instead!"

"That's because I _like_ them!" said Betty, "Fashion shows and salsa dancing aren't my thing."

"That doesn't matter. It's time you grew out of this _unhealthy_ behaviour," Tanya said, critically, "All these _sports_ and _space alien_ obsessions are never going to get you anywhere! What _you_ need think about is getting a real fashion sense! And _that_ outfit is _not_ fashion." She eyed Betty's yellow sweater and green skirt with distaste. "You need something _much_ more stylish. Boys will _always_ fall for a girl who looks good!"

"I don't think so, mom," said Betty, tonelessly, "I really don't think so."

"Oh, _I_ know!" exclaimed Tanya, completely ignoring Betty's response, "You should ask that good friend of yours Penelope to help you out! She has the _best_ fashion sense! _She'll_ have you sorted out right in no time!"

"GOOD FRIEND!?" exclaimed Betty, incredulously, "Penelope!? Mom, do you even know _anything_ about her at all!? Penelope's the most disgusting person in the entire school! She bullies me nonstop, day in, day out!"

"Oh, pish posh," said Tanya, dismissively, "Penelope is one of the _nicest_ and most _fashionable_ girls I've ever met. _You_ could learn a thing or two from her," she added, sharply, but Betty had heard enough.

She ran into her bedroom and slammed the door, then collapsed onto the duvet and cried.

"Honey, you give Betty a break," said Quincy, striding up to Tanya, "Stop trying to turn her into someone she's not."

"I'm _trying_ to turn her into a _lady!"_ said Tanya, crossly, "I don't know _why_ she insists on being so boyish all the time. It's _so_ not good for a woman. It'll never get her anywhere."

Betty was very quiet at dinnertime. She didn't feel like talking about hockey or skateboarding or even space comics. She knew that if she did, her mother would start criticizing her about not knowing how to be a girl, and that would only lead to talking about Dylan again. Whom she didn't know what to do about. So instead, she kept her head down and ate her lasagne, while Quincy talked about his job and Tanya marvelled on some outfits she saw at the mall today.

They were just stacking up their plates to take into the kitchen, when Betty's bracelet began to vibrate!

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Betty gasped and stood up! "I'm just gonna...go and put the plates in the sink!" she exclaimed, quickly gathering up the plates and cutlery, "Delicious lasagne, mom! Thanks!" And quick as a whip, she shot out of the room.

"This is where she's going wrong," said Tanya, critically, staring after Betty in disapproval, "She'll _never_ get a boyfriend by running off like this all the time."

"Oh, stop it," scolded Quincy, "I think Betty is perfect just being herself."

Betty sprinted into the kitchen, threw the dirty plates into the sink, then pressed the button on her bracelet and beamed up to her starcruiser.

"Chief, I think we might've made a horrible mistake," said Sparky, timidly, as Betty stepped out of the teleporter.

Betty tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, about Maximus and my mom. Minimus called me yesterday," explained Sparky, nervously. "He says Maximus is feeling really miserable. And my mamoolah's been acting real upset, too. I tell you, she's just not herself." He reached into the pocket of his spacesuit and took out a thin stack of folded letters. "And last night I found _these_ under her pillow." He held out the letters and Betty took them in her hand.

"'Dearest Darling Zulia,'" she read from the top letter, "'Thank you so much for writing to me. I only wish I could hear your beautiful voice.'" Betty's eyes widened. "'I read your novel. It was excellent. You are a very talented writer. I especially loved the part when...'" Betty continued reading the letter, while Sparky and X-5 watched with wide eyes.

"'Even though we cannot see each other, I hope we can still write. It would be so lovely to hear from you. I promise I will never forget how much you meant to me. Love... _Maximus?'"_ Betty trailed off. She looked up at her crew in disbelief.

" _That_ is highly unexpected," said X-5, "I never thought of Maximus as the romantic type."

"What do you think, chief?" asked Sparky, anxiously.

Betty scanned through the rest of the letters Zulia had got from Maximus. Considering they had been written by a supervillain, they were rather touching. "I don't know," she said, in a slightly choked voice, "Maybe Maximus and Zulia really _were_ meant to be together."

"But, chief, that's crazy!" exclaimed Sparky, "Isn't it?" He looked around, uneasily. You could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't at all sure either.

Betty thought. Then she had an idea. "You know what?" she said, "I think I know how to figure this out."

...

"Mom, Dad, can I go over to Paloma's?" Betty asked, peeping into the kitchen, having just beamed back down from her ship, "I just need to...check with her about some...homework."

"OK, pumpkin," replied Quincy, who was washing the dishes while Tanya sat at the table, examining her fingernails, "Don't be too long."

"Oh, I don't know, Betty," said Tanya, looking at her watch, disapprovingly, "It's getting a little late."

"Oh, _and,"_ Betty added, quickly, looking directly at her mom, "Only Paloma knows the _perfect_ way to groom a cat. With her help, Purrsy here could look like a movie star!"

"Purrsy?" exclaimed Tanya, jumping up with a beaming smile, "Why didn't you say so!? Of _course_ you can go to Paloma's, honey!" She sprinted over to the settee, where Sir Purrsefus was catnapping.

"Hear that, Purrsykins?" she cooed, gathering Purrsy in her arms and nuzzling him between the ears, "You're going to be the most handsome little pussy cat in the whole wide world! Yes you are! Yes you are!"

Betty rolled her eyes in disgust and headed towards the front door. Ugh! The way her mother fussed over Purrsy like that. It was just sickening. In fact, Betty often got the feeling that Tanya loved Purrsy more than her.

But never mind that. Betty opened the door and stepped out into her front yard. It was spring, so it was still light, although the sky was starting to dim just the slightest. She glanced around, making sure she was alone, then spoke into her bracelet. A second later, Sparky and X-5 beamed down from the starcruiser, dressed in their Earth disguises. Sparky looked like a typical nerd, dressed in a beige jacket and brown checked pants, as well as a pair of glasses that were too big for his eyes. X-5 was wearing a light blue sweater and a matching hat. A gold watch medallion hung round his neck.

They headed round the block until they got to the colourful house where Paloma and Juanita lived alone. Of course, only Betty knew Paloma and Juanita's secret. Everybody else thought they were just ordinary girls with an ordinary family and an ordinary life. Paloma's parents weren't as soothing as average, either. Her mother was Golgotha, the evil queen of Paloma's former home planet, Sharbena, who was currently serving a life sentence in galactic prison. And her father was none other than the Beluvian demon, who had been imprisoned inside Spindly Tam Kanushu's Beluvian Demon Box along with his daughter, Paloma's evil twin sister Pandora, after she had attempted a galactic takeover and been foiled by Betty, Maximus and Paloma.

Honestly, whenever anybody asked Paloma about her family, Betty just _smiled._

The three Guardians reached Paloma's house and knocked on the front door. She heard footsteps approaching, and the door opened. "Hi, Betty," beamed Juanita, standing there with an adorable smile on her face.

"Hi, Juanita," said Betty, "We need to talk to Paloma."

"Juanita!?" exclaimed Sparky, "AAAAH!" He screamed and hid behind X-5, who looked at him with an amused smile.

Juanita shot a direct look at him. "Hi there, _Sparky,"_ Juanita grinned, teasingly.

Sparky shuddered. Even if Juanita _was_ a Galactic Guardian, Sparky still didn't trust her one bit.

"Hey, sis!" called Juanita into the house, "Betty and her friends are here."

Paloma appeared at the end of the hallway and came up to the door. "Betty!" she beamed, "How are you—" Then she paused as she saw Sparky and X-5 behind her. "Is that Sparky and X-5?" she said, "What are you two doing on Earth?"

"Paloma," said Betty, "I know it's a little late, but we really need your help."

"Anything I can do for you, Betty, I will," said Paloma, warmly, "So what do you need?"

Betty hesitated for a second, then told Paloma all about what had happened between Maximus and Zulia. "I thought we were doing the right thing," said Betty, "But now Maximus and Zulia are feeling really sad without each other, and we're not sure if we didn't do the wrong thing."

"Well—we can't have done the wrong thing!" exclaimed Sparky, "I mean, he's a supervillain and she's my mom! They're on the exact opposite sides! How could they possibly be together? It just doesn't make any sense!"

Paloma smiled. "Love isn't supposed to make sense, Sparky. Some people surprise themselves with who they want to be with."

"I know that," said Sparky, "But this is _Maximus_ we're talking about! Supreme Evil Overlord! I mean, what if they'd gotten _married!?_ Then I'd have _four_ sisters! Heidi is bad enough, let alone his evil Betty triplets!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Sparky," said Betty, "Paloma, you possess the unique ability to peer through time and space, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Paloma replied.

"We need to find out if we did the wrong thing," said Betty, "Can you use your powers to help us find out?"

"No problem."

"OK," whispered Paloma, when she was sitting at her table behind the crystal ball she had previously used to predict Betty and Noah's future, "It's all ready." She contorted her face, then opened her eyes, and Betty, Sparky and X-5 saw that they had turned a glowing feline orange. "What do you wish to see?" asked Paloma in a ghostly voice.

"I'd like to see if there are any discounts for Budonkian pig snouts next Friday," said Sparky.

Betty elbowed him.

"Show us what happened between Maximus and Zulia," she answered, "Was he just using her for some kind of scheme, or did he really love her?"

Paloma ran her fingers down the side of the glass. A vision began to appear inside it, and the multi-coloured pieces of bubblegum vanished from view.

"Gaze into the crystal ball," crooned Paloma, "And the truth will become clear."

The three friends came closer and looked at the vision inside the ball. It was blurry at first, but then it became distinguishable. Two figures: a female Neutropian with white hair and a tall feline in a red robe; were sitting awfully close to each other in the seat of a blue spaceship, looking up at a spectacular light show in the sky.

"Wow!" exclaimed Sparky, "He took her to Colorosia?"

"Ssh!" scolded Betty, and looked back at the vision in the crystal ball. They could faintly hear voices, and when they leaned in closer, they could hear everything. Their jaws dropped in astonishment as they listened to what Maximus and Zulia were saying. It was so romantic. In fact, he didn't seem like the Maximus they knew at all. It was like he had a whole other personality buried deep down in his tail. Then Betty, Sparky, X-5, and even Paloma's eyes widened as they watched Maximus and Zulia embrace. The way he held her was so...caring. It was like he really did have a desire to protect her.

Tears welled up in Betty's eyes. "Stop it!" she shouted, "I don't want to see anymore!"

Paloma's bright feline orange eyes faded back to their usual human brown, and the vision behind the glass disappeared.

Sparky stared at the pieces of bubblegum floating around in Paloma's crystal ball, astonished at what he had just seen.

"Are you _sure_ that's Maximus?" he quizzed, "Cause he seems the opposite of...evil."

Paloma nodded.

"Wow..." murmured Betty, "I never knew Supreme Evil Overlords could be so...so..." She trailed off, as she couldn't quite think of the right word for it.

"Secretly warm-hearted?" suggested Paloma.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Betty. She turned round to face Sparky and X-5. "Boys," she said, shakily, "This may sound crazy, but for once, I don't think Maximus was the bad guy."

Then she took a deep breath and said it.

"We are!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Boom. Mind blown.**


	27. Rip Repaired

**Chapter 27**  
 **Rip Repaired**

Maximus I.Q. sat at his control panel seat, playing with the Posi ceramic mallard he had retrieved from Pandora. But ducks just weren't enough. Just as he was about to stand up and put it away, his video phone beeped, and the words VIDEO CALL DETECTED flashed up on the screen. Not shifting from his deadpan expression, he pressed the button. An image of a redheaded Galactic Guardian appeared on the video screen. Maximus gasped and stood bolt upright!

"Atomic Betty!" he growled, his feline eyes narrowing with hatred, "What do you want, _Guardian!?"_

"Meet me on Asteroid Zero at twelve o'clock," said Betty, matter-of-factly.

"And why would I want to do that?" Maximus snapped.

"Trust me, if you don't come, it'll be no one's loss but yours," Betty assured him. The screen went black.

Maximus tilted his head in slight confusion. That had been short. He looked at his Max-Land watch, and saw that it was quarter to twelve. He wasn't doing anything evil, so he had no idea what Atomic Betty wanted with him, but he decided to go to Asteroid Zero for the sake of it.

...

"I still can't believe I'm doing this," said Sparky, as they stood on the surface of Asteroid Zero, beside their starcruiser, waiting for Maximus to arrive.

"I know it seems a little crazy," admitted Betty, "But we made a mistake and we need to fix it. Even if it _is_ Maximus."

After about twenty minutes, the Guardians spotted Maximus's spaceship descend onto the asteroid. They felt the wind in their hair as it landed.

"Is this _really_ wise?" asked Sparky, anxiously.

"Normally I'd say no," admitted Betty, "But it isn't really up to us to decide."

The black spaceship landed on the asteroid, and the Supreme Evil Overlord of the Galaxy stepped out. His eyes narrowed with loathing as he saw the three Guardians standing in front of their red starcruiser. He fixed them with an icy stare, which made them shiver. Maximus really had a way with hard stares.

"Alright," he snapped, striding forward, "I came. Now what do you want?"

Betty, Sparky and X-5 exchanged glances. "Actually," said Betty, with a smile, "It wasn't _us_ who wanted to see you. It was someone else."

She pressed a button on her bracelet and the door of their starcruiser slid up, revealing somebody else standing there. Somebody female, with an appearance similar to Sparky, but with fluffy white hair and holding that dreaded weapon over her shoulder.

Maximus's eyes widened!

The next few seconds happened in a blur. One moment they were standing there rigid, the next Zulia hurled herself into Maximus's arms and buried her head in his chest, clutching his robe. They squeezed each other tightly, and didn't ever want to let go.

A tear managed to squeeze out of Maximus's eye and ran down his cheek, and he didn't even care that the Galactic Guardians were watching, because he was with her.

Sparky blew his nose loudly, which gave a sound like a foghorn.

"The Galactic Guardians say you can be together," said Betty, respectfully "We think you two might be good for each other."

"Oh, thank you, Atomic Betty," Zulia exclaimed! She ran over and hugged Betty tightly. Then she looked meaningfully over at Maximus.

He blinked in disbelief. "You've got to be joking me."

Zulia scowled.

Maximus sighed, deeply. "Th-thaa—ank—y-you, Atom-mm-mic—Betty," he managed to say, in a voice of unspeakable agony. Then he coughed quite violently and spat out a large hairball. He shuddered. "There. I said it."

Betty rolled her eyes, amusedly. "I'll take what I can get."

Then she thought of something. "Now I need to go home and sort out another broken couple."

 _Mine._

...

Betty strode boldly down the school corridor towards the lockers. Paloma's words from a few days ago repeated in her head as she approached.

 _"...I've seen you and Dylan. You two are perfect. And Dylan isn't Penelope or Duncan. He doesn't laugh when you make mistakes. He helps you up."_

Dylan closed his locker and clicked the padlock shut.

"Dylan," a voice said, quietly. Dylan looked round. Betty was standing there with a nervous expression on her face.

"I thought I said we were through, Betty," said Dylan, crossly.

"I know," said Betty, gathering her courage, "But just let me say this, please."

Dylan raised his eyebrows, but agreed.

"Look," said Betty, gently, "About that phone incident. I know it was in my bag and it really looked like I'd stolen it, but I swear on my life I have no idea how—"

"Dylan!" exclaimed Penelope, striding up, "What are you doing, _talking_ to her!" She said the word _talking_ as if it were an offence, "You two are through! So _why_ are you _wasting_ your time conversing with that _geek!?"_ She jabbed her finger at Betty.

"Penelope!" exclaimed Betty, furiously, "I'm trying to talk here!"

"Too bad, you can't!" sang Penelope, sliding in between Dylan and Betty, "Dylan's moved on from you! Now he's with the smartest, richest, most _beautiful_ girl in school! Me!"

This was a complete lie. There was absolutely nothing going on between Dylan and Penelope, and Penelope knew it.

"Penelope, she's just talking!" said Dylan, with annoyance.

"Oh _yeah!?"_ snapped Penelope, "Why would you talk to her when you could be talking to me! It took you long enough to realize that Betty's not worthy and that you should be with me instead, so why are you even bothering to let her talk to you!?"

"Penelope, there is _nothing_ going on between you and me," said Dylan, irritatedly, "Now will you _please_ leave me alone?"

"Don't you _remember_ what she did to you!?" exclaimed Penelope, "What kind of _girlfriend_ steals your phone for her own selfish needs!? _I've_ never stolen anything from you! That PROVES that _I_ am better!" She folded her arms, triumphantly.

Suddenly, Dylan realized something.

"Wait a minute," he said, slowly. He looked at Penelope, who was standing with a smug expression on her face. "I never told anyone that Betty stole my phone."

Penelope's eyes snapped open!

"You didn't?" she said, in a panicked voice, "I mean...um...well...you see...um...I just...well..."

Things began to click inside Dylan's head.

"It was _you,"_ he exclaimed, " _You_ took my phone and planted it in Betty's bag."

Penelope's eyes darted left and right in panic.

"OOOOOOH! So what if I did!?" she snapped, "I did you a favour! You're better off without that geek anyway!"

"I don't like it when people play tricks, Penelope," said Dylan, angrily.

"SO WHAT!? You should be with ME, not that dopey, idiotic space cadet! Betty is nothing but a LOSER," Penelope screamed, advancing on Dylan, "All her _stupid_ space obsessions and _stupid_ friends and _stupid_ hockey and that _stupid_ red hair and those _stupid_ clothes she wears, and those _STUPID_ space cadet make-believes, she's nothing but a stupid, sorry-looking LOSER!" Penelope turned round and shoved Betty roughly to the ground. Then she turned back to Dylan with a look of devils on her face. "Listen, buddy, you've got a choice to make right now, and you had better forget about that FREAK and get to dating ME, because _I'm_ nicer, _I'm_ smarter, _I'm_ prettier, _I'm_ richer, and I am BETTER than her! You should be seeing me! Not her! ME!"

Dylan's eyebrows creased into a frown. "Let me just get something perfectly clear," he said, fiercely, "I don't like you, Penelope. You're mean, you're selfish, you're vain, and not to mention you're a _liar!_ I don't care how much money you have, or what clothes you wear or just how cool you think you are. Because Betty is perfect the way she is, and that's why I like her. I never liked you, and I never will." He strode right past the seething Penelope and held his hand out to Betty. Betty smiled as he pulled her up.

"Penelope, I don't want you to ever talk to me again," Dylan said, firmly, "Or to Betty." And with that, he and Betty walked away down the school hall, holding hands, leaving Penelope raging with fury.

"Listen, Betty," Dylan said, when they were out of earshot, "I think I owe you an apology. I should've known you would never do anything like that."

Betty smiled. "It's OK, Dylan," she said, kindly, "It's not your fault. Penelope's always playing dirty tricks."

"I noticed," replied Dylan, rolling his eyes.

Betty laughed. "Thanks for sticking up for me back there," she smiled, "That was real cool of you."

"No problem," Dylan said, "But there's just one thing I don't understand. Why didn't you just come and tell me? Then we wouldn't have had to go through all this confusion."

Betty sighed. "I was afraid to," she admitted, "I thought I might have taken your phone by accident, and that if I told you, you'd think I was a loser for making a stupid mistake."

"Why would I think that?" asked Dylan, taking her hands, "I like you, Betty. I wouldn't care if you made a mistake. Everybody makes them."

Warm, glorious relief flooded through Betty's body. "That's a relief to hear," she said, thankfully, "I guess I was just being paranoi—"

Her speech was abruptly cut off as Dylan kissed her. Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she closed them and kissed him back. Wow. This felt good.

They let go of each other's lips and instantly looked away.

"Yeah."  
"Right."  
"OK."  
"Alright."  
"Yeah."  
"Cool."

There was a moment of embarrassing silence.

"So...does this mean we're a couple again?" Betty asked, shyly.

"Absolutely," replied Dylan, "I never should have dumped you in the first place."

Happiness filled up Betty's face. She leaned over and gave Dylan a quick kiss on the cheek. "Well, I'd better get to class," she said, smiling, "See you round...boyfriend."

"See you round, Betty," replied Dylan, and they headed their separate ways.

With a spring in her step, Betty skipped down the corridor down to math class. Waiting for her outside classroom were Noah and Paloma.

"Did you do it?" asked Noah.

"Yep," said Betty, "Turns out that whole stolen phone business was just a trick by Penelope. We sorted out and we're a couple again, and everything's...sort of...good now."

"Way to go, Betty," smiled Paloma.

...

"I'm so happy I finally get to see your citadel," said Zulia, who was sitting around the corner from Maximus at Maximus's long table, eating a plate of blindingly posh food for dinner, "I love it. It's so nice to be here."

"'Tis no trouble at all, my little _death ray,"_ cooed Maximus, tickling her chin with his finger, "It's very nice to have you here. I'm just so glad we can be together. You know," he mused, "For a group of goody two-shoes Galactic Guardians, those three _can_ sometimes have the _occasional_ hint of sense."

Zulia rolled her eyes. "Oh, Maxy. Now carry on with what you were saying about that Shredder you used."

"Well," said Maximus, fingering his whiskers, slyly, "When Minimus and I got sucked into the worm hole with that Betty and her friends, we—"

Suddenly, without warning, Zulia stood up on the chair on her tiptoes and kissed him full on the lips. Maximus looked a little surprised at first, but then complied. He didn't mind; after all, he was really starting to like this whole kissing thing. He closed his eyes and purred contentedly into her mouth. She giggled into the kiss, opening her mouth slightly, and Maximus let his tongue graze her upper lip, tasting that same sweet honey taste as he had before.

Minimus pushed open the kitchen door, wearing a waiter's suit and tie, intending to take in their plates and take their orders for dessert, but when he saw them kiss, he stopped in his tracks.

 _Perhaps I'd better leave them to it,_ he thought, smiling, and headed back into the kitchen.

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Well! I hope you liked it! It took centuries to write, but it was worth it!** **Don't forget to leave a comment!**


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